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A woman has bravely shared her harrowing 28-year ordeal at the hands of her stepfather, during which she was subjected to beatings, torture, rape and forced to bear six children with him.

Now aged 62, Lydia Gouardo endured a reign of terror that spanned 28 years, beginning in 1971 when she was locked up in an attic at just eight years old.

Despite managing to escape from Raymond Gouardo's clutches several times in the early years of her torment, Lydia was returned to her abuser by French authorities each time, despite the attacks leaving her with burn marks across her body after being scalded with boiling water and hydrochloric acid.

Following this, the abuse continued unabated until his death in 1999, without arousing suspicion in the quiet village of Crecy-la-Chapelle o

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