In Germany, an investigation has been opened into an 8-year-old girl who has been locked up in her grandparents’ house for most of her life. That made the public prosecutor of Siegen, in the west of the country, known this weekend. The mother and grandparents are under investigation.
The child’s mother and grandparents would not have allowed her to go to school or play with other children. The girl would not have left the grandparents’ house in the town of Attendorn.
The mother had informed social services that she would be moving to Italy. The father lived separately from the family. When the Italian authorities announced that the mother and daughter did not live in the country and probably never had been, youth protection went to the grandparents’ house in September. There they saw the daughter, almost 9 years old, on the stairs.
An explanation as to why the child was denied all contact is not yet available. Both the mother and the grandparents invoke their right to remain silent. “As a result, people are still in the dark about what may have gone on in the minds of these people,” said the public prosecutor. They are charged with deprivation of liberty. Attendorn is a close-knit community, but even the neighbors don’t claim to know that mother and child lived in the house.
The girl is now in foster care. There are no signs of physical abuse or malnutrition. The court will appoint a new guardian and have the child examined.
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