In eastern France, a 43-year-old father has been charged with keeping his nine-year-old son locked in a van for more than a year, since November 2024. The boy was discovered on Monday after neighbors in the town of Hagenbach, Alsace, reported hearing "sounds of a child" emanating from the van, which was parked in the common area of an apartment block.

The state prosecutor stated that the boy was found lying naked under a blanket, on a pile of rubbish near human excrement, malnourished and unable to walk due to prolonged confinement in the same position. Under questioning, the father claimed he had kept the child in the van to protect him from his 37-year-old partner, who "wanted to put the child in psychiatric care."

The father has not been named publicly. The couple lived in the apartment block with the boy's siblings—his 12-year-old sister and 10-year-old half-sister. According to Le Parisien newspaper, the boy told police that his father brought him food twice daily and left water bottles, but he had to urinate in plastic bottles and defecate in bin bags, with his last shower occurring at the end of 2024.

Neighbors informed police that the boy seemed to have vanished suddenly at the end of that year, but they were led to believe by the couple that he had been placed in care. Some reported hearing occasional noises from the van but were told it was a cat. The father alleged that his partner was unaware the boy was in the van.

The man faces charges of "sequestration and arbitrary detention of a minor" as well as deprivation of proper food and medical care, and he has been remanded in custody. His partner has been charged with "non-assistance to a minor in danger" and "non-denunciation of mistreatment of a minor," and she has been granted conditional bail. The three children have been placed in temporary care pending a decision by a children's court judge.

Source: www.bbc.com