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Blue light of a patrol car of the NRW police (symbol image)
Photo: Piero Nigro / aal.photo / IMAGO
The police in Hagen are investigating a 22-year-old woman who is said to have neglected her child.
She is accused of deprivation of liberty and breach of duty of care.
According to police, neighbors saw the five-year-old climb onto the roof and down the gutter of a four-story house on Monday morning.
When the police arrived, the boy had already gotten back into his room through the window.
Mother and stepfather opened the apartment door for the officers.
They unlocked the children's room door, which is where the police found the five-year-old.
Because of the "conditions in the apartment and in the room," the officials called the youth welfare office.
Apparently deregistered from daycare
An employee of the office got an idea of the situation and then took the child to a municipal facility.
The child apparently lived locked in the children's room, which according to the police only contained a mattress and a bucket for his necessities.
The child appeared unharmed and did not appear ill.
According to media reports, the mother is said to have deregistered the boy from daycare.
Neighbors reported that the five-year-old repeatedly asked for food.
The police did not comment on this.
According to WDR, there was also a drug plantation in the apartment.
jpz/dpa
