The two French brothers, aged 4 and 5, who were left alone along a Portuguese road last week, are being handed over to the French authorities. A Portuguese court announced this on Tuesday. France is temporarily sheltering the brothers through the social services of Colmar, their former place of residence.
Journalist at HLN
Source: Belga
Portuguese justice has been holding the 41-year-old mother and her 55-year-old partner in pre-trial detention since Saturday. The woman is accused of child neglect. Her partner is being prosecuted for the serious abuse of one of the boys.
According to the Setúbal court, the children must quickly return to their home country. The social services in Colmar are now investigating whether family members or third parties can take over the care. For the time being, the father only has limited and controlled visitation rights.
Left after “game”
The brothers from France were spotted on Tuesday evening wandering along a motorway near Monte Novo do Sul, south of Lisbon.
Authorities said the mother told the boys they were going to play a game. They had to put on a blindfold. When the brothers took them off a little later, their mother appeared to have disappeared. The mother and her partner sat hours later on the terrace of a café in Fátima, almost 200 kilometers away.
LOOK. The abandoned French brothers were found last week on the side of the road in Portugal
