PARIS — A 9-year-old boy has been rescued after being locked inside his father’s utility van in eastern France since 2024, authorities said.
According to prosecutor Nicolas Heitz, police were alerted by a neighbor who reported hearing a child inside a parked vehicle in the village of Hagenbach, near the Swiss and German borders.
Officers forced the van open and found the boy “lying in a fetal position, naked, covered by a blanket on top of a mound of trash and near excrement,” Heitz said.
The child was severely malnourished and unable to walk after being kept in a seated position for an extended period. He has since been hospitalized.
The father told investigators he had confined the boy in November 2024 “to protect him,” claiming his partner wanted to send the child to a psychiatric hospital.
However, authorities said there was no medical record indicating the boy had any psychiatric condition prior to his disappearance.
The father has been detained and faces preliminary kidnapping charges, while his partner — who denied knowledge of the boy’s confinement — has been released under judicial supervision on charges including failure to assist a minor in danger.
The boy told investigators he had not showered since 2024 and believed his father “had no choice” but to confine him due to difficulties with the father’s partner.
Authorities placed the boy’s 12-year-old sister and another child in the care of social services, while an investigation continues into whether others were aware of the case.
Friends and family had reportedly believed the boy was in a psychiatric institution, and his school had been told he transferred elsewhere.
Authorities have not released the identities of those involved.
Source: Saudi Gazette