Swedish officials have launched an indictment against a couple from Stockholm for using what they claim to be torture-like methods for maintaining discipline.
In a report by The Local, the offences made by the couple in attempts to raise their children ranged from using shoehorns to beat them to stabbings with various pieces of kitchen cutlery.
Three children were involved in the scandal, aged eight, seven and four which was made public via a report in the Metro newspaper. Authorities were first alerted to the parents’ disciplinary techniques by a school nurse who claimed she was advised of the circumstances by the 7-year-old several months ago. Police launched an inquiry into the matter which included investigation of the family.
Subsequent interviews conducted by police with the children revealed that they were constantly threatened by their parents on occasions when they did not do as they wished. “Mum hit me with a shoehorn,” one of the children told police officers according to reports. The children also maintained that they were subjected to stabs from knives and forks by the couple which were always painful but did not reveal any obvious physical injury.
Police interrogations of the couple were met with strong denial by the pair. “Why would I hit my beloved children?” queried the mother when questioned. The parents claim that bruises and injuries that were visible on their children were a result of accidents that occurred during athletics and gymnastics practice.
The couple has been charged with gross violation of an individual’s integrity, with prosecutor Pontus Klang saying the indictment was built around police interviews with the children along with consultation with other personnel from the children’s school. The family is currently being held in a family care facility where they can be supervised.
[…] Swedish couple accused of tormenting children […]