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The 16-year-old twins who escaped an alleged house of horrors’ in Texas were subject to various tortures at home including being made to drink cleaning fluids, being burned with bleach and beaten with extension cords, according to new court papers.

The twins were found emaciated and near-naked on September 18 after they broke free from handcuffs and banged on a neighbor’s home.

The neighbor took them in and called police, prompting the twins’ mother, Zaikiya Duncan, 40, and her boyfriend, Jova Terrell, 27, to flee with her five other children to Louisiana.

They have both since been arrested and now face child abuse charges. All seven children have been placed into care. 

Investigators spoke to the two teens to compile charging documents, in which they detailed the abuse they allegedly suffered and how they escaped.

In the documents, obtained by KHOU 11, the boy and girl said their mother poured bleach in their mouths and on their genitals until it burned their skin and made them drink cleaning products because they “talked too much.”


  Zaikiya Duncan fled with her boyfriend and seven other children once the police were contacted. Credit: Harris County Constable Zaikiya Duncan fled with her boyfriend and seven other children once the police were contacted. Credit: Harris County Constable

They were fed Benadryl tablets until the boy had a seizure and beat them with extension cords, curtain rods and other implements.

The teens also said they were kept naked and handcuffed in a small laundry room and had to keep silent all day or they would be beaten. They also had to defecate and urinate on themselves and had only a dirty mop to wipe it off.

The only food they were given were sandwiches of mustard, bologna or relish a couple of times a week. Authorities said they were severely malnourished when they were found.

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The teens shared that they were handcuffed and kept in a laundry room. KHOU
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The teens also detailed being beaten, forced to take drugs as well as other horrific acts of abuse. KHOU
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Scars from the abuse could be seen across the teenagers' bodies.
Scars from the abuse could be seen across the teenagers’ bodies. KHOU
bleach burn marks
Bleach marks and scars from the abuse cover the children.KHOU
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According to the documents, the boy had found the key to their handcuffs in Duncan’s purse and hid it in his mouth, then unlocked himself and his twin, broken the zip ties around their legs and ran out of the house. Pictures obtained by KHOU showed the children with marks from the handcuffs around their wrists and ankles and scars on their bodies.

Once helped by the neighbor, the teenagers, who sufered fractures and were both malnourished, were taken to hospital.

Officers set about locating their mother, her boyfriend and their siblings — aged 14, 10, 7 and 12-year-old twins – but they had fled to Louisiana. An Amber Alert was issued and the parents identifid and arrested by local police.

Details about Duncan and Terrell started to emerge Thursday, including that she had a previous record for child abuse, after she allegedly scalded one of her then-five year children with hot water.


  Zaikiya Duncan and her boyfriend have been arrested and face child abuse charges. Facebook Zaikiya Duncan and her boyfriend have been arrested and face child abuse charges. Facebook

  Zaikiya Duncan had a previous record of child abuse. Facebook Zaikiya Duncan had a previous record of child abuse. Facebook

Terrell is a wannabe rapper who goes by the name YBG Joker, although it appeared he had limited success online, amassing only 21 likes to his Facebook page.

The family had recently moved into a brand new $600,000 home in Cypress, Texas, with neighbors saying they had only been living there for in the home for two weeks, according to KPRC.

The home includes four bedrooms and a grand staircase, a different reality company website shows.

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