He freed the locked-in Swedish children: 'Gave me a hug'

Two Swedish brothers, aged 8 and 11, were discovered locked in a Zurich apartment, thanks to the vigilance of their 72-year-old landlord, identified as Simon.

The boys had been missing from the radar of Swedish authorities for over 18 months. They were found in a dilapidated apartment in the southern part of Zurich, with broken shutters and cracked walls. The landlord noticed a padlock on the door of the room where the children's father had recently moved in.

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When they saw me, they came over and gave me a hug.

Simon recounted that the father had urgently sought a new place to live after being evicted from his previous residence. He mentioned the two children would be moving in, but it was another tenant who reported hearing children's voices. When Simon investigated, he saw the padlock on the room door and immediately contacted the father via text, stating, "Locking in children is a crime; I will report this."

Police were called, and Simon was present when they opened the door, finding the boys. "One child was sleeping in the bed while the other was running around," Simon told reporters. He added that the brothers hugged him after being released. Swiss legal documents detail that the father locked the boys in at 4:30 PM, boarded up the window, and left for work, leaving them with only bread and a potty. They remained locked for three hours before being discovered. The father was arrested upon returning home and spent 52 days in custody. His actions were classified as neglect of duty, with a sentence of six months imprisonment.

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Locking in children is a crime; I will report this.