Barsinghausen near Hanover
Four-year-old found dead in bed – parents in custody
A police car is parked in front of an apartment building in Barsinghausen as part of an investigation. photo
© -/TNN/dpa
The dead child has “multiple injuries” that “a fall down the stairs could not explain”. The prosecution has initiated investigations into manslaughter and severe abuse of those under protection.
A four-year-old boy was found dead in his bed in Barsinghausen near Hanover. The mother tried to revive her child on Friday morning, but the emergency doctor was only able to determine the boy’s death, police and prosecutors said.
The child’s 28-year-old mother and her 33-year-old partner were taken into custody on Saturday.
Because the injuries on the boy’s body did not fully match how they should have arisen, according to the mother and her partner: According to the first results of the autopsy, the boy had “multiple injuries” that “a fall down the stairs could not explain,” said a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office in Hanover. The parents had previously given a fall down the stairs as the reason for the injuries.
The prosecution initiated investigations into manslaughter and severe abuse of those under protection. According to the spokeswoman, the investigations are ongoing, and a detailed report from forensic medicine is still pending. The six-year-old sibling was taken into the care of the youth welfare office.