A 73-year-old Austrian man has confessed to holding his daughter captive in his home cellar for nearly 24 years and fathering seven children by her.

Police revealed the horror after a teenager was taken to a hospital and said she was a daughter of the abused woman, believed missing since 1984, BBC reported.

Investigation in Amstetten, Lower Austria Province, is continuing with authorities saying the victim was kept by her father Josef F. in a sophisticated network of chambers with facilities for sleeping, cooking and washing.

The man confessed to the police that one of the children he fathered by his daughter Elisabeth was a twin who died and the dead baby's body was burned in an oven inside the house.

Three children, including the 19-year-old who was taken to hospital, were allegedly kept in the cellar with their mother while the other three reportedly grew up with their grandparents.

Mr. F reportedly told his wife that his missing daughter had dropped the unwanted children off at the house because she could not take care of them, police said.

The victim told the police that she did not think her mother knew about the situation and said her father began sexually abusing her at age 11.

On August 8, 1984, weeks before she was reported missing, her father put her in handcuffs and locked her in a room in the basement, Elisabeth told the police.

She appeared "greatly disturbed" psychologically during questioning and agreed to talk only after authorities assured her that she would no longer have to have contact with her father, and that her children would be taken care of, police added.

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