German mystery over man, 43, who never left home Published duration 5 October 2016

image copyright AP image caption The man had been living with his parents in the picturesque Bavarian village of Freienfels

German police are investigating a couple who reportedly kept their son at home in a village near the Bavarian town of Bayreuth for 30 years.

The man, who is now 43, has rarely been seen since he stopped attending school at the age of 13.

Police say he looked neglected but not underfed, and stress they may not press charges.

His mother told local media "he didn't want to go out", and she had only wanted to protect him.

Police were alerted to the mysterious case by a tip-off last month, and took the man from his home to hospital.

He has not been identified because of strict German privacy laws.

They said it was more likely to be a family tragedy than a criminal case.

"We do not know exactly since when the man lived there without regular contact with the outside world, nor do we know what the situation really looked like, for example, whether or not he had the opportunity to leave the premises," police spokesman Juergen Stadter told journalists on Tuesday.

In a later briefing on Wednesday police said the evidence suggested the man had been able to move freely through the house, and had not been chained.

When the emergency services came to collect him, he was reportedly unwilling to come.

"He obviously felt well protected there," said Mr Stadter.

'I cannot repeat such horrible words'

The man's mother, 76, said she and her husband had never locked him in. "He just didn't want to go out", she told local journalists.

He was bullied at secondary school, she said, and she had just wanted to protect him.

"I cannot even repeat such horrible words," she said.

Later he did not want to leave the house any more "out of fear" for his fellow-students, she said.

Police had once been called out in 1984, she said, after the boy had stopped going to school because of the bullying.

Questions are now being asked about why no-one had raised the issue since, and how he could have slipped through the net of youth, social and health services.

The only documentation the police say they have found so far is about 30 years old, showing he attended primary school and then a comprehensive school.

Paperwork dating back to when he was 13 appears to suggest that the school authorities deemed he was no longer fit to attend classes there, police said.

The case came to light with the arrival of a newcomer in the village at the start of this year, tabloid newspaper Bild reports.

The man had gradually learnt more from the villagers about the "prisoner" whose parents had forbidden him "any contact with other inhabitants". Eventually he took the case to the police.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Police said many details about the man's circumstances were still unknown

The regional hospital in Bayreuth where he has been taken has said he is as well as can be expected "under the circumstances", without elaborating further.

He was being looked after by a specialised team of doctors, nurses and therapists, a spokesman said.

The hospital will try to determine whether he is ill or has mental health issues.

Related Topics Germany