Four dead babies found in suitcases in Dutch attic

Sky News

"A Dutch woman has been arrested on suspicion of killing four of her babies and hiding their bodies in suitcases in an attic, police said.

The unnamed 25-year-old is being held after officers searched the home where she lives with her parents in the Netherlands.

Detectives found four suitcases in the attic, each containing the remains of babies.

Initially, only three bodies had been confirmed to have been found.

The inquiry was started when police were informed the woman had no children despite being pregnant several times.

She told officers the youngsters, born between 2002 and early this year, had been given up for adoption but she could not come up with documents to prove it, leading to her arrest.

However, the woman, from Nij Beets in northern Friesland province, then changed her story and said she was "keeping them" in separate suitcases in the attic.



Her parents, who claim they were unaware of their daughter's pregnancies, are not being regarded as suspects in the case, police chief Wim van Essen said.

The causes of the death have not been established and forensic investigations will also have to determine whether the children died at birth, prosecution officials said.

The woman has appeared before a judge, who ordered she be held in custody for 14 days pending further investigations.

Mayor Francisca Ravestein said the community was "very shocked" by the events, adding: "There are so many questions."

The case has emerged just a week after French mother Dominique Cottrez was charged with killing eight of her children.

In 2006, a woman identified as Etta A from Beverwijk in the Netherlands was sentenced to three years in prison for drowning four babies and hiding the bodies in her yard."