A woman who was imprisoned for 25 years by her own mother

On May 23rd 1901 Paris attorney general received an anonymous letter about a spinster who was locked up for the past 25 years starving and living in her own filth. When the police looked into the matter what they found out was unbelievable. A policeman describes what he witnessed as,

"The unfortunate woman was lying completely naked on a rotten straw mattress. All around her was formed a sort of crust made from excrement, fragments of meat, vegetables, fish, and rotten bread… We also saw oyster shells, and bugs running across Mademoiselle Monnier’s bed. The air was so unbreathable, the odor given off by the room was so rank, that it was impossible for us to stay any longer to proceed with our investigation."

The woman they found was Blanche Monnier, a daughter of a well reputed bourgeoisie family in Poitiers who was renowned for her beauty. She attracted many suitors but she wanted to get married to an old lawyer of her choice to which her mother did not agree. Mother was angry to an extent to lock her in a tiny dark room in their attic for 25 years. None of her friends knew where she was and her mother Louise and her brother continued on with their lives pretending to mourn Blanches death. The lawyer she was wishing to get married unfortunately died in 1885. 

After police discovered Blanche, her mother was immediately arrested and soon she died after falling ill. Her brother appeared in court as he was initially convicted but soon acquitted on appeal since duty to rescue didn't exist in the penal code back then. After being rescued by the police Blanche was diagnosed with several mental illnesses and soon she was admitted to  a psychiatric hospital in Blois, France where she eventually died.