Khaberni - A nine-year-old child lost the ability to walk after spending about 18 months, or 500 days, confined in his father's cargo truck before being rescued while still alive.
In details published by the British "Metro" newspaper in a report seen by "Alarabiya.net", the child was rescued and taken to the hospital after being locked inside his father’s "VAN" truck for a period close to 18 months.
The child is now lying in a hospital in eastern France after being found "lying in a fetal position, naked, covered with a blanket over a pile of garbage and near feces".
The French public prosecutor Nicolas Heitz said in a statement that the child had been restrained in a sitting position inside the truck for so long that he was no longer able to walk.
One of the neighbors alerted the police last Monday after hearing "child noises" coming from the truck in the village of Hagenbach near the Swiss-German border.
The child’s father, who was detained, told investigators that he put his son in the truck in November 2024 "to protect him" because his partner wanted to send him to a psychiatric hospital.
However, the public prosecutor said there are no medical records indicating that the child was suffering from any psychological problems, while his school records show that he was academically excellent.
Heitz said that the boy told investigators that he was having "major problems" with his father’s wife and added that he had not taken a bath since 2024.
The father was preliminarily charged with kidnapping and other charges, and remained detained, while his wife denied knowing the boy was in the truck, according to the public prosecutor. She was also preliminarily charged, including a charge of neglect in aiding a minor in danger, and was released under judicial supervision.
The boy's 12-year-old sister and his stepmother’s 10-year-old daughter were placed under the care of social services.
The public prosecutor's office is investigating whether anyone else was aware of what was happening to the child.
Friends and family told investigators that they believed the boy was in a psychiatric clinic, while his teachers at school were told he had transferred to another school, according to the public prosecutor’s office.
The authorities have not disclosed the victim's name or the names of any of his family members.
