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Two of 'locked up' adult kids back with mother

TT/The Local
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Two of 'locked up' adult kids back with mother
An initial hearing was held at Kristianstad district court. Photo: Stig-Åke Jönsson/TT

Two of the three adult daughters believed to have been kept locked up by their mother in southern Sweden have moved back in with her. The youngest daughter has not returned.

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Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported on Tuesday that the two eldest daughters have returned to the town of Bromölla to live with their mother, who is still suspected of having prevented her three children from leaving the apartment for several years.

The mother's lawyer Thomas Ljungdahl confirmed to the paper that the youngest daughter, who is the plaintiff, has not yet returned.

"I don't know where she is," he said.

Swedish police arrested the 59-year-old mother late on Wednesday, but Kristianstad district court ruled on Friday that she should not remain in custody while officers continue to investigate the case.

Reports in the Swedish media suggest that one of the children - who are all in their 20s and 30s - managed to briefly leave the apartment and convince a neighbour to call the police, saying that they had been locked up for over a decade.

The 59-year-old woman has denied all accusations against her and at the initial hearing on Friday her lawyer Thomas Ljungdahl claimed that the family had moved around because they were seeking help for "medical problems".

He later described the family to Swedish broadcaster SVT as having "an unusual way of life" but said that there were "no crimes involved" and added that the mother was "very surprised" that the children had allowed the case to go to court, stating that they had been free to leave their home.

The mother remains formally suspected of keeping her children locked up and shielded away from the outside world, between January 1st 2013 and January 18th 2015, but prosecutor Pär Andersson told Dagens Nyheter on Tuesday that if no further evidence is found it is likely the case will be dismissed.

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