A badly malnourished nine-year-old boy was rescued in France after being caged by his father in a van for a year and a half.

Reports say police recused the boy after they heard sounds coming from the vehicle, which was parked in Hagenbach, a town of around 750 residents in Eastern France, near the country’s borders with Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. 

Prosecutor Nicolas Heitz said the boy had been found “lying in a fetal position, naked, covered by a blanket, amid trash and excrement.” The boy was so severely malnourished that he was unable to walk, and that he had not showered since late 2024. 

The boy’s 43-year-old father reportedly told police he kept the boy in the vehicle to protect him from his 37-year-old partner who “wanted to put the child in psychiatric care.”

The couple lived nearby in an apartment with the boy’s 12-year-old sister and ten-year-old half-sister. The boy reportedly told authorities his father brought him food and bottles of water twice a day.