Overview
- A seven-year-old girl left her home on May 26 to ask for food and to report abuse, and her testimony led authorities to rescue her five-year-old brother and open a judicial investigation.
- Medical exams found chronic protein–calorie malnutrition, moderate-to-severe anemia, intestinal parasitosis and growth delay in the two children.
- Investigators say the siblings were kept isolated for months, did not attend school, were locked in rooms, received little food and were reportedly monitored with security cameras inside the home.
- The División de Investigaciones (DDI) of Pico Truncado carried out an arrest operation in Barrio 400 Viviendas under orders from Juzgado de Instrucción N°1 and detained the mother and the stepfather on charges including reduction to servitude, aggravated unlawful deprivation of liberty, serious injuries and abandonment.
- The accused remain at the court’s disposal while the children stay in protective custody receiving specialized medical and social care and investigators review evidence such as camera footage as the judicial inquiry continues.