The man was arrested at the end of June after the police received a call about a disturbance at the residence. It was then discovered he had repeatedly abused his wife. He was taken into custody for gross violation of a woman’s integrity.

It was later found out that he had also prevented his two daughters and two sons from attending school. How he confined them to the home is still unclear, a police source told UNT.

The police believe that the man used threats and violence to keep the children under his control and stop them from coming and going out to play. The children were reportedly only seen out in public in a group under the surveillance of their father.

The man’s wife was also said to have periodically been held captive and he is therefore now under suspicion for the illegal imprisonment of both his wife and children.

The family is reported to have spent periods of time in the man’s native country, as well as elsewhere abroad. The children, however, were born in Sweden and are Swedish citizens.

The man’s identity is also unclear since information about his age is incorrect, reported UNT.

According to Uppsala police spokesperson Christer Nordström, the children are doing well given the circumstances. He told TT that the neighbours became suspicous when the children were never seen alone outside.

“You wonder how it’s possible to be born in Sweden and not attend school. It raises questions about how well we monitor those who come to Sweden and their children,” he said.

Police received a call about the family on June 27th. “Then we received a report about what had happened to the family. It came in from several sources, from neighbours, but also from relatives. I believe the wife was one of them in one instance,” Nordström told TT.

He believes that one reason that no one had reported the case previously was that they travelled abroad frequently.

“They have been gone the last several years, possibly since 2004, and just came back to Sweden this year.”

Just how the father was able to keep all four children out of school for so long without raising alarm bells is unknown. Social welfare services in Uppsala were unfamiliar with the family’s case prior to the police report.

The father denies the charges of illegal imprisonment and gross violation of a woman’s integrity, according to his lawyer Claes Nylander.

According to Nylander, the father also claims that the children have attended school, but not in Sweden.

Prosecutor Johan Strömbäck has just received the case. It was previously reported that charges might be filed on Tuesday, but Strömbäck said that there may be a delay.