Man accused of holding wife captive in France being released, charges unfounded, prosecutor says

A French prosecutors stated Tuesday {that a} man accused of holding his spouse captive is being launched with out expenses after her claims seemed to be unfounded.

Police on Monday stated they arrested the 55-year-old man after his spouse claimed he had held her captive of their dwelling for 12 years. The lady stated her husband had raped and tortured her repeatedly, however officers couldn’t corroborate these claims.

The general public prosecutor, Olivier Glady, ordered him launched from custody the next day, saying there have been no grounds for expenses. The prosecutor stated the spouse was affected by a number of well being points and that her claims weren’t based in actuality.

Glady stated Tuesday that the lady had been questioned for a number of hours and maintained her accusations in opposition to her husband. Nonetheless, Glady stated that it was clear she was not held captive.

He stated the husband advised him that the lady suffered from an autoimmune illness that left her disabled, and that the couple had not sought medical help for her situation. He stated the couple, each German nationals, didn’t communicate French and that had stopped them looking for a physician or join public medical insurance. 

The prosecutor stated the lady was nonetheless within the hospital because the authorities tried to discover a higher answer for her medical care.

The couple lived within the village of Forbach, within the Moselle area of japanese France, simply throughout the border from Germany.

Emergency providers in Wiesbaden, Germany, acquired a telephone name very early Monday morning from a girl who claimed she had been held captive and tortured by her husband since 2011. German authorities contacted their French counterparts who despatched cops to the handle at 6 a.m. native time.

The native prosecutor advised reporters the police discovered the 53-year-old lady in a bed room of the condominium. She was taken to the hospital and her husband was taken into custody, earlier than later being launched.

Early media reviews advised the lady was malnourished and her head had been shaved. Nonetheless, the prosecutor stated that the lady’s sickness had brought on hair loss and left her emaciated.

Docs who examined her within the hospital stated that there have been no indicators of bruising on her physique, and X-rays confirmed no traces of fractures.

The prosecutor added that there was no conclusive proof that she was malnourished or dehydrated.

A neighbor who lives on the identical flooring of the condominium block advised reporters that the person advised everybody that his spouse had most cancers. “We by no means noticed the spouse,” she stated. “We heard cries generally, I believed it was due to the ache of the sickness.”

The spouse advised police she had been tortured, and there have been early reviews that her husband had a field of torture instruments. However the prosecutor stated that, regardless of an intensive search of the condominium, no such gadgets had been discovered. No proof of brutality was discovered, he stated.

The prosecutor stated an investigation was underway to find out the circumstances of the lady’s care and the extent of her sickness, and why she advised police she was being held in opposition to her will and abused. He added that, after 12 hours of investigation, it appeared unlikely that expenses of false imprisonment and torture can be introduced in opposition to the person.

The husband, who has denied the allegations, is just not recognized to French police, in keeping with the prosecutor. Inquiries have been made to German police.

The prosecutor did, nevertheless, verify that police had been known as to the house in 2019 when neighbors complained of the noise and stated they had been involved she was being overwhelmed. No motion was taken at the moment.