An autopsy that had already been carried out showed that the child had died of massive malnutrition, the State Criminal Police Office announced on Wednesday. The boy’s parents were arrested on suspicion of murder. The couple’s three other children, aged one, three and six, were then handed over to the care of child and youth welfare services.
The father of the three-year-old had informed the police on Monday morning that his son was dead in bed, prosecutor spokesman Hansjörg Mayr described the events. When police and rescue workers came to the apartment of the Austrian couple who were also present on Monday, there was nothing they could do for the child.
“Siblings develop normally”
According to Mayr, the family had previously been unremarkable to the authorities. The three other siblings – all girls – were normally developed and had “no deficiencies”. To his knowledge, there had been no previous contact with child and youth welfare services.
After the boy died, the parents were hospitalized due to an exceptional psychological condition. They were arrested as they were leaving the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. A questioning or interrogation has not yet taken place; further information was not expected until Thursday.
Investigation into suspected murder
In any case, based on the autopsy results, according to which malnutrition was the cause of death, the public prosecutor’s office had “reason to assume that the parents had inadequately fed the child for a long time” and therefore began investigations on suspicion of murder, said Mayr. The public prosecutor must submit an application for pre-trial detention within 48 hours.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
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Source: Nachrichten
