Attendorn/Düsseldorf (dpa/lnw) - The case of a girl who has apparently been locked up for years in Attendorn, Sauerland, is a topic in the Düsseldorf state parliament. The SPD parliamentary group has requested a report from the state government for the upcoming family committee (November 17). Among other things, the opposition has questions about the role of the authorities.
"The reports about the incident in Attendorn are affecting. It is all the more important that we start investigating and processing immediately," said Dennis Maelzer, spokesman for family policy for the SPD parliamentary group.
"How could the child be held so long undiscovered and cut off from the outside world? How is it that the youth welfare office only now had the means to search the house and make an inquiry to the Italian authorities?" said Maelzer. The SPD also wants to know why nobody noticed that the child didn't go to school.
The eight-year-old girl had apparently been locked up in her mother's house for most of her life. According to the public prosecutor's office, the child was not given the opportunity to "participate in life". It didn't go to daycare or school and wasn't allowed to play with other children. There was no evidence of physical abuse or malnutrition. According to the youth welfare office, the child has been with a foster family since September 23.
