For most of the eight-year-old’s life, a custody dispute had been going on between his parents. The boy himself had expressed a fear of the father.
Despite the fact that social services, the school and the police had raised the alarm, the court decided in December last year that the father would have the right to some contact with the son. At the time of the suspected murder, the father was entitled to a total of four hours of visitation every second weekend.
The boy was found dead alone in an apartment on Sunday, January 9, after the mother raised the alarm that he did not come home as he was supposed to.
New legislation underway
The incident has aroused strong feelings and demands for a change in the law regarding children’s forced contact with adults have been raised. On January 20 this year, an investigation was also presented, which was appointed by the previous government, with proposals for, among other things, changes in the parental code that should provide increased protection for children when it comes to contact with a violent parent.
That a change in the law is necessary is something that is agreed on across block boundaries.
– In this matter, let us show that we can take the responsibility that the voters have given us and work together for the good of the children, said the spokesperson for the Green Party, Märta Stenevi, when the issue of children’s safety was discussed in the Riksdag.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) tells SVT that a bill will be tabled this fall.
The exposed sisters: “Hard to think about anything else”
In Lilla Aktuellt, the sisters Leah and Daniella, who are actually called something else, talk about their experiences of being forced to see their father every weekend, even though he had previously been threatening and violent.
– It was difficult to think about other things at school on Friday, says one of the sisters.
Leah and Daniella had expressed to teachers, school counselors, social services and the police that they were afraid of the father, but felt that his rights outweighed theirs.
– Just because he was an adult, it was as if we were smaller people than him.
Hear Leah and Daniella talk about their experiences in the clip above.