PARIS: A German man was arrested on Monday in the French town of Forbach, near the German border, for allegedly holding his wife captive for 12 years, reported German news agency (dpa).
However, the French judiciary has urged caution against jumping to conclusions.
Olivier Glady, the Sarreguemines public prosecutor for the Moselle region in northeastern France, said on Monday evening that police officers had not discovered any clear evidence that the 53-year-old woman had been locked up in the flat.
The German woman was found without shackles near a telephone and had no sores or bruises, he said. Also, no fractures were found during examinations, which at least seems to rule out the accusation of torture. The scenario of an extremely brutal person seems to be less likely given these observations.
On Monday, the man was detained in Forbach, which borders the German state of Saarland, after his wife previously alerted security forces in Germany, stating that she had been locked up and abused by her husband since 2011.
The 55-year-old man was taken into police custody. There, he said that his wife had been suffering from an illness for a long time. – BERNAMA-dpa
