Young girl locked indoor by parents for six years rescued

A six-year-old girl locked inside a room by her parents for her whole life breathed fresh air again following her rescue. The young child from Sorocaba in Sao Paulo state, Brazil, lived on liquid-only diet during her detention. She had never been to school or taught how to speak. Help came for the young girl after an anonymous tipped off the authorities, who subsequently met her in a dark filthy room with only a teddy bear for company.

Metro reported that because of her inability to speak, she communicated with officers through basic sounds. The girl was taken to hospital, where she was diagnosed to have a urinary tract infection, a blood infection and severe malnutrition. Her mother showed ‘no remorse whatsoever’ and gave evasive answers while welfare authorities questioned her.

Police chief Renata Zanin said, ‘When asked questions like: ‘Why didn’t you take her to the doctor’ or ‘Why didn’t she go to school’, the mother simply replied ‘Because it hasn’t happened yet’ or ‘I was going to take her’.

Both of her parents were arrested and charged initially with unlawful detention, and are liable to be further charged with mistreatment, according to local media.