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Kidnapping mum faces four years in prison

TT/Clara Guibourg
TT/Clara Guibourg - [email protected]
Kidnapping mum faces four years in prison

An eight-year-old, kept hidden in the Dominican Republic from her Swedish father for four years, is back with her family in Sweden.

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"That feels good, but I still miss my mother a lot," said the girl when questioned by the police.

Her mother is now being charged for child abduction. The woman denies the crime, stating that she had good reasons for living there with her daughter for 3.5 years, according to newspaper Metro.

The girl has been in Sweden for a month now, living with her father, his new wife and her two baby sisters, according to daily Dagens Nyheter (DN). Her father hopes she will be able to see her mother in the future.

The mother is currently jailed and waiting for trial. She faces up to four years in prison for abducting her daughter.

"My interpretation of the situation is that prison time is reasonable, and not in the lower end of the scale," said prosecutor Hélène Dalhammar to DN.

Before being reunited with her father last month, the eight-year-old girl had not seen him since January 2007.

The parents were involved in a drawn-out custody case, in which the father wanted shared custody, but the mother demanded sole custody, claiming she was concerned there was a risk for sexual abuse.

The court dismissed these claims and finally decided to grant the father sole custody, but the day before the court's decision came into effect, the mother disappeared with her daughter.

The future remains uncertain as to whether the girl will be able to see both her parents without risk for another abduction.

"We can only hope the situation can be solved in time," said Dalhammar to DN.

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