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When I was in high school I remember finding a magazine (don't know which one) in art class in a bin of scap paper. It was such a horrible story I never forgot it.
A twelve year old girl living with her relatives was beaten an average of twice a day, forced to spend days in a closet too small for her where she spent so much time in one position her bone became exposed, and starved to the point of begging for and stealing food when she was allowed to go to school. She was quoted as saying "They gave me nothing but water."
In one particularly awful part of the story, the girl was handcuffed to the leg of the dinner table while watching the rest of the family enjoy Thanksgiving dinner, receiving nothing for herself. The clincher was that an older girl's boyfriend was there as well, and he was told she was being punished, so he did nothing to help her.
Needless to say her health was in such danger that she almost died, and only when she fainted for three hours did her family call an ambulance. The doctors instantly realized what had been going on and her whole family was arrested and, at the time of the article, were all serving time in jail.
The story's ending was somewhat happy, though, because after the two month stay in the hospital she had the girl went to live with a good family, although she needed years of therapy.
Well, I started crying right there in art class while reading this story, and I ended up getting so sick I had to leave school. (Keep in mind I was 15.) I always remembered that story, though, and the one about the handicapped boy remined me of it, Conqueror.
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