Sweden: Mother suspected of locking up her son for 28 years
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Dec 4, 2020
Olsson said doctors determined the man's injuries were a result of illness and infection, not violence. She entered the unlocked flat after learning that the man's mother had been admitted to a hospital over the weekend, according to Swedish newspaper Expressen.
Swedish prosecutors said on Thursday they no longer suspected a woman of holding her son captive in their apartment for decades, saying he had not been held against his will.
Osterling confirmed that the man has been hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, with reports noting he was found with sore-ridden legs and next to no teeth, was barely mobile, and had only a limited ability to speak.
Prosecutor Emma Olsson, who heads the preliminary investigation, said Tuesday that the woman was being held on suspicion of unlawful deprivation of liberty and grievous bodily harm.
The relative said that the house where she discovered the man "smelled rotten" and was covered in "urine, dirt and dust".
"We can not go into what type of injuries" he has, Olsson said.
Her brother's speech was slurred, but he was not afraid of her, the sister said.
'Society now needs to help this man, and this woman too.
But most claimed never to have seen the man, or to have realised he was living in their apartment building until after officers arrived.
He was taken to hospital where he underwent surgery.
She explained to SVT that the family was "dysfunctional", and the mother had become "overprotective" of her son after losing a child some years earlier.
It is believed that the mother first imprisoned her child when he was around 13.
The relative also told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper she had contacted social services several times over the years but was told no crime had been committed because the man was not physically locked up.
The woman's daughter confirmed the abuse to the paper.
The relative told Swedish media that the apartment was filthy and filled with junk.
One neighbour reported seeing the son while out shopping over the summer, and said he approached and told her: 'I know who you are, you're my neighbour'.
