A mother who kept her 16-year-old daughter in chains in a private prison because she was “too expensive” has been seized by police in Brazil.
Officers raided the home in Uruacu, in the northern part of the Brazilian state of Goias. On 15th February after an anonymous tip-off.
Police video footage from the raid shows a girl with a rusty chain around her right leg fixed to railings above a bare brick wall as she lies on a makeshift bed surrounded by debris and straw.
Officers found the key for the padlock in the possession of her 35-year-old mother, who has not been named and who faces false imprisonment charges.
She reportedly told the police that she had locked up her daughter because she was “too expensive” and to keep her away from human traffickers.
The teen told police she was allowed out to work but was locked up every time she came home.
Police chief Sandro Costa told local media: “According to the teenager, she and her mother work as waste pickers.
“The young woman said that, when they arrived from the street, she was chained by one of her feet to prevent her from leaving the house.”
The teen’s 12-year-old sister and the girls’ father were also at the house when the police officers arrived.
Costa said that it appeared that the girl had not suffered any injuries.
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Newsflash obtained a statement from the Uruacu Civil Police Station dated 16th February, saying: “The Civil Police of the State of Goias, through the Uruacu Municipal Police Station, arrested a woman who was keeping her 16-year-old daughter in a private prison, chained by her foot to a railing.
“The police operation was carried out by the on-duty team from the Uruacu Municipal Police Station together with the recently sworn-in civil police officers, who reported for duty today.
“The investigated woman was caught in the act and taken to the Barro Alto Women’s Prison.”
Her mother faces eight years in prison if convicted and the teen’s father is also being quizzed to see if he was part of a conspiracy to lock her up.
The teen girl and her 12-year-old sister have been placed with their maternal grandmother until the investigation is completed, Costa told local media.
