Sweden: Mother allegedly imprisoned son for almost 30 years

The Swedish police arrested a 70-year-old who is said to have locked her son for decades. A relative found the 41-year-old man in the completely neglected apartment and called the ambulance service, reported the Swedish media. He had been cut off from the outside world since he was twelve years old. When he was in seventh grade, his mother took him out of school and isolated him socially.

“It was like getting into a nightmare,” said the relative who found the man, the SVT broadcaster. She had long suspected that the woman had locked up her son, she told the newspaper “Expressen”. When she heard that the mother was in the hospital, she went to the apartment on Sunday evening. The apartment was dark and completely littered.

The man was sitting on the floor in a corner. He could hardly speak. Despite his age, he has few teeth and wounds on his legs. The man was taken to hospital for injuries. The doctors finally alerted the police. A police spokesman confirmed that the man in the apartment in the Stockholm suburb of Haninge had been “locked up for a very long time.”

Mrs. denies the allegations

As SVT reported, citing the relatives, the alleged deprivation of liberty could be due to the loss of another child. The mother felt bad after the death of the first child. When another son was born, he was given the same name as the deceased. “She was overly careful and only wanted her deceased son back,” she is quoted by the broadcaster. The social services did not intervene. There are no official confirmations for this information yet.

However, the police are investigating the deprivation of liberty and serious assault against the mother, who denies the allegations. She is now to be interrogated in the presence of a lawyer.

“We will investigate the circumstances and situation of the man and conduct a large number of witness interviews,” said prosecutor Emma Olsson, according to a statement. The apartment will be examined carefully. The man is still in the hospital, the prosecutor said, without going into the nature of the injuries. The police want to hear him later that day.

A decision on the woman’s pre-trial detention should be made by 12 noon on Thursday.