Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
Three children in Spain were rescued from a 'house of horrors' earlier this week having allegedly spent the last three years locked inside without sunlight by parents who were concerned about the threat of coronavirus.
Cases such as these have been in the news a lot recently, with a US woman also accused of locking her stepson inside his bedroom for over 20 years.
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Here is everything we know about the horrifying case in Spain, from what police have explained about the couple and the home they lived in, and why they were seemingly set on keeping their kids inside for so long.
Police in the northern city of Oviedo found three young boys, twins aged eight and their ten-year-old brother, in the house, where they have reportedly been stuck inside since December 2021, when Covid was at its peak.
After being released from their prison, the kids reportedly became overwhelmed and even stroked the grass after stepping outside for the first time in years.
What was inside the 'house of horrors'?
The house was a mess, with pictures showing the small cots where the young boys allegedly slept.
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They were also found in nappies and were struggling with severe constipation, as they reportedly told police that they weren't able to go to the bathroom when they needed to.
Pictures of a filthy bathroom also showed it as the lodging of the family cat, who was also severely ill with a tumour.
The parent's bedroom had used tampons piled up under the bed, while dirty nappies and pet poop was also present in several different rooms across the house.
What were officers told when they arrived at the house?
After being tipped off by a neighbour, who had never seen the children go to school, police arrived at the house on Monday and asked to go inside.
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However, the parents were very cautious and allegedly put three masks on each of the children before allowing officers into the house, suggesting that they were very ill.
One officer said: "He [the father] immediately said there were minors in the house.
"But to our surprise, not only did that happen, but neither parent denied that they had been isolated for years, nor did they show any special knowledge of having done anything wrong."
What have officers said about when they found the children?
"When we took them out of the house, into the garden, where they didn't even want to go outside, they saw a snail and went crazy," one officer told El Mundo. "They were scared."
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"We have given three children back their lives," said Chief Inspector Francisco Javier Lozano after the raid.
Another officer told the Spanish press, via the Daily Mail: "They were very scared and around the mother, who told us all the time that the little ones had serious pathologies and that we should not approach them.
"They had three masks each on top of each other. They were oblivious to any contact with reality."
What is 'Covid Syndrome'?
It is suggested that the parents were suffering from Covid Syndrome, and that's why the children were being kept inside for so long.
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Symptoms of the mental illness include compulsively checking for symptoms of Covid; avoidance of public places; obsessive cleaning; and other manipulative behaviours.
While it is not known if the children were vaccinated against the disease, which turned the world upside down after the pandemic first broke out in 2020, their parents were seemingly still extremely worried about them potentially contracting it.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
Topics: Crime, Parenting, World News, Coronavirus
James Moorhouse