ISSUE NO. 1635
3 - 9 November 2016
COSTA BLANCA SOUTH
YOUR PAPER, YOUR VOICE, YOUR OPINION
Woman kept own children captive
By Matthew Elliott A Swiss woman has been charged with keeping her two children captive for seven years. The Guardia Civil revealed they had arrested the woman and her partner at their Vega Baja home in Catral on Saturday after her 17-year-old daughter managed to sneak an email to the ANAR foundation, which is devoted to helping children escape abuse. She and her younger brother had reportedly not been to school or allowed any contact with the outside world since moving to Spain in 2009, living in six different homes across Catral, Elche, and Rojales. The abuse had apparently begun when the children were
just toddlers in Switzerland. The detained woman is 49 years old and of Spanish descent. Her 30-year-old partner has been charged with covering up her crimes. Her daughter has told police that they were frequently assaulted and were warned that the police would rape and torture them if they ever went for help. Neither child speaks Spanish and they were forbidden from using the internet or telephone and allowed out only for minutes at a time under close supervision. “The minor ’s signatures during police proceedings were exactly the same as those on their Swiss ID cards from seven years ago, the writing looks like that of a small child who has not developed his writing,” a
spokesman for the Guardia Civil in Alicante told reporters. The girl has since returned to her biological father in Switzerland while her brother’s future is unknown.
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