21 September,2010 12:53 PM IST | | Agencies
A 48-year-old Bolivian man has been charged with raping his two stepdaughters over the past nine years and fathering their six children.
The man was arrested in San Julian town after letters were sent by the victims, aged 17 and 19, to Bolivian authorities describing the abuse they were allegedly subjected to.
"Please help me, my stepfather abuses me and keeps me locked up," a letter said.
The younger stepdaughter had two children with the man, while the elder has four, with the latest born September 17.
Adan Arteaga Mancilla, the prosecutor in charge of the case, said the abuse of the elder sister began when she was 11, and that the following year she got pregnant with her first son.
Abuse of the second girl began when she was 12 and she would be forced to have sex while accompanying her stepfather to collect firewood, he said.
"He threatened to kill them. Even the mother knew of the abuse, but since he was a violent man, she didn't dare report him," the prosecutor said.
The accused had been absconding for some time but peasants found him in the mountains and handed him over to police.
