Foster daughter, 10, ‘thrown down stairs and locked in electrified cage’ in Netherlands

Couple on trial after girl taken to hospital unconscious with several broken bones and badly malnourished

A couple have gone on trial accused of locking their 10-year-old foster daughter in an electrified cage and throwing her down the stairs during months of repeated abuse.
In a case that shocked the Netherlands, the girl was taken to hospital unconscious in May with several broken bones and badly malnourished, reportedly weighing 22kg.
The child emerged from her coma in July, but is unable to sit up independently or communicate, prosecutors said as the trial opened in Rotterdam on Thursday.
She will probably require intensive medical care for the rest of her life, they said.
The girl is conscious, the chief prosecutor said, but “that sounds a lot more positive than it is. She can’t sit, walk, stand, or communicate on her own.”
The couple, named only as Daisy and John, both 37, have been charged with attempted manslaughter for throwing her down the stairs, among a string of other charges.
They allegedly held their foster child captive in their home, abusing and neglecting her for months, the court heard.
The girl, who was forcibly removed from her biological parents after suffering abuse, is said to have sustained successive serious injuries and was denied medical care by the couple.
“They locked her in her room, handcuffed her arms and legs, and covered her mouth with tape. They placed her in a homemade cage with electrical wires attached to it,” the chief prosecutor said.
The couple were not present in court to hear the accusations. The next hearing is scheduled for November.
Their lawyer said they denied pushing her down the stairs, arguing that she jumped down herself.
The pair are now being investigated for other alleged abuse committed against two other former foster children.
The case, which has become known as the “Foster girl From Vlaardingen”, referring to the harbour town outside Rotterdam where she lived, has raised serious questions over how the authorities missed the alleged abuse.
According to Dutch media, the girl had reported several times that she was being abused, but her claims were ignored or dismissed.