The child was only allowed out to eat some toast
A nine-year-old boy locked in a two-square-metre dark room, perhaps for months, was discovered by Belgian police in Marcinel, Charleroi. This was announced today by the public prosecutor's office in Charleroi, pointing out that the child may have been locked up for weeks, perhaps even months.
For these shocking conditions of the child's detention, his mother and stepfather were accused of for whom an arrest warrant was issued.
Belgian authorities discovered the nine-year-old child at the family's home in Marsinel last Wednesday following a complaint. There, the child lived in miserable conditions, according to what the Belgian media reported and relayed by the Athens Agency. “It was in a very small space, two square meters. It was locked in there, in the dark for weeks, even months. The child was only allowed out to eat some toast. He showed no signs of malnutrition or physical injuries associated with beatings. More comprehensive tests will be carried out to assess his state of health in depth”, the Charleroi prosecutor's office commented this morning.
The child's mother and stepfather who were arrested are accused of abduction, deprivation of food , blows and wounds and inhuman and degrading treatment. The two defendants will appear in the coming days before the Charleroi court, which will decide whether or not they will remain in preventive detention.
