According to “Sauerlandkurier”, the girl (who was released at the end of September) has said that she had never seen a forest, had never been in a meadow or ridden in a car.
The girl, who has meanwhile been placed in a foster family, said during her examination that up until now she had mainly lived in a room with the door locked. Sauerlandkurier.de quoted the senior public prosecutor of Siegen, Patrick Baron von Grotthuss, saying that the girl had not been allowed to leave the house since she had been at least one and a half years old. “Therefore, the child cannot have consciously been aware of much of the outside world.”
There were no findings of abuse or malnutrition, and the girl was able to articulate and walk, although she was “barely able to climb stairs or negotiate uneven ground on her own”.
According to the report, the mother and the grandparents have so far not given any comment. They are being investigated for deprivation of liberty. The mother is said to have told the father, who had been separated from her since before the birth, that she wanted to move to Italy with their daughter.
In September 2015, the father had told the Youth Welfare Office that he had seen the mother several times in Attendorn - but when asked, the grandparents had stated that their daughter lived with their granddaughter in Italy.
According to the report, the responsible youth welfare office of the Olpe district was repeatedly turned away by the grandparents, who also refused access to the house. The police were also not allowed into the house by the grandparents, but they were not able to produce a warrant.
In the end, a relative of the mother’s side of the family had given the decisive hint after a visit to Italy that the mother and the child had never lived in Italy.
The deputy mayor of Attendorn, Uli Selter, told WDR that “it is far too early to pass judgement now. The background is still unknown to all of us. But to witness something like this in one’s own town, is very concerning to us.”
