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Suspected Kidnapper in Case of Locked Away Dutch Family Reportedly Arrested

© AFP 2023 / WILBERT BIJZITTERThis aerial picture taken on October 15, 2019 shows a farmhouse in a remote area of northern Netherlands' province of Drenthe, near the village of Ruinerwold, where Dutch police discovered a hidden staircase behind a cupboard leading to a cellar where a man and five others believed to be his children aged between 18 and 25 were hidden and reportedly spent years "waiting for the end of time", officials said. - Local media said the family were found after one of the sons went to a nearby pub in a confused state, drank five beers and then asked for help, saying he had not been outside for nine years.
This aerial picture taken on October 15, 2019 shows a farmhouse in a remote area of northern Netherlands' province of Drenthe, near the village of Ruinerwold, where Dutch police discovered a hidden staircase behind a cupboard leading to a cellar where a man and five others believed to be his children aged between 18 and 25 were hidden and reportedly spent years waiting for the end of time, officials said. - Local media said the family were found after one of the sons went to a nearby pub in a confused state, drank five beers and then asked for help, saying he had not been outside for nine years.   - Sputnik International
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Earlier, a Dutch family of six was discovered in a farmhouse room after one of the male siblings escaped to a pub and asked for help.

A man in the case of the locked away Dutch family has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, the Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANP) reported. 

According to prosecutors as cited by AFP, the man is suspected of "illegal deprivation of liberty" of a Dutch farm family.

"In the investigation, the man is currently suspected of being involved in illegal deprivation of liberty and harming the health of others," Dutch prosecutors said in a statement, adding that he would appear before an examining magistrate on Thursday.

Five siblings aged between 18 and 25 and a 58-year-old man were found in a secret room on the farm near Ruinerwold in the Dutch northern province of Drenthe. According to local mayor Roger de Groot, the man is not the father of the children. 

The Austrian foreign ministry earlier said an Austrian national was being held in relation to the case but said the man did not want to have contact with Austrian officials. However, Dutch prosecutors did not confirm the suspect's nationality.

The family had spent nine years "waiting for the end of time", media reports say. According to RTV Drenthe news station, the local police were alerted on the situation after the oldest of the children from the locked away house visited a village bar last week and asked for help.

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