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Abusive dad ‘beat us for 20 years’: mother

Charges against a father of four from Uppsala in eastern Sweden suspected of abusing his family and holding his children captive for years won’t likely be filed until next week, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Abusive dad 'beat us for 20 years': mother
The home in Uppsala of a man suspected of holding his family captive for years

“Prosecutors have asked for another week because apparently there are some questions about the man’s identity,” said Uppsala police spokesperson Christer Nordström to the TT news agency.

Police suspect that the man may be younger than the age he previously gave to investigators.

“Information has come up during the investigation indicating as much, so we have to dig a little deeper,” added Nordström.

Meanwhile, school inspection authorities are demanding to know how the children’s absence from school managed to go undetected for so many years by local education officials in Uppsala.

The man’s four children are currently between the ages of 16 and 22-years-old.

“It’s serious that the children were kept out of school. We want to investigate what the reasons were. Has the municipality neglected its duties? The municipality has a responsibility to make sure that children like this who are required to be in school are actually in school,” said Ingegärd Hilborn, the head lawyer with Sweden’s schools inspection agency, Skolinspektionen, to TT.

The agency expects a response from Uppsala municipality by the end of the week.

If officials in Uppsala are unable to explain the lapse to the satisfaction of Skolinspektionen, the agency can demand the municipality change its procedures to protect against similar cases in the future.

The father at the centre of the investigation is currently being held on suspicions of illegally imprisoning his family in their home and of gross violations of a woman’s integrity.

The man was arrested in late June following complaints from neighbours about a disturbance in the family’s home.

A few days later his wife filed for divorce, claiming she had been tortured by her husband and that had beaten her and the couple’s children for more than 20 years.

The woman also requested that she be given sole custody of the two of the couple’s children who are still under 18-years-old.

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CHILDREN

What names do foreign nationals give their babies in Switzerland?

Each year for more than three decades, the Federal Statistical Office has been publishing the first names of infants born in Switzerland the previous year. It seems that foreigners favour names that are typical of their national background.

What names do foreign nationals give their babies in Switzerland?
Foreigners give their babies names that reflect their nationality. Photo by Keira Burton from Pexels

As The Local reported on Wednesday, the most popular names for newborn girls born in Switzerland in 2020 were Mia, Emma, and Mila.

For boys, Noah took the top spot, ahead of Liam and Matteo.

REVEALED: The most popular baby name in each Swiss canton

But what about the most popular names among various nationalities living in Switzerland?

The answers come from the same study.

Italy

The top name for boys of Italian parents is Giuseppe, followed by Antonio and Francesco. For girls, Maria is in the first place, Anna in the second, and Francesca in the third.

Portugal

There are many Portuguese immigrants living in Switzerland and, like their Italian counterparts, they like to give their children traditional names: José, Carlos and Manuel for boys, and Maria, Ana, and Sandra for girls.

Spain

Spanish names are similar to those of Portuguese babies.

José, Juan and Jose are most popular boy names, while Maria, Ana and Laura are in the top three spots for the girls.

Turkey

Most boys of Turkish descent are named Mehmet, Ali, and Mustafa. Among girls, Fatma, Ayse, and Elif dominate.

Kosovo

Arben, Vallon, and Bekim are top names for boys, and Fatime, Shquipe, and Merite for girls.

Macedonia

Bekim is in the first place for boys, followed by Muhamed and Fatmir. Among girls, Fatimr is in the lead, Sara in the second place, and Emine in the third.

Serbia

Aleksandar, Dragan and Nicola take the first three spots. For the girls, Jelena, Maria and Snezana are at the top.

Can you give your baby any name you want?

Not in Switzerland, you can’t. It’s important to keep in mind that the cantonal registry offices, where new births must be announced, don’t have to accept very unusual names.

Several years ago, for instance, a Zurich court ruled that parents can’t name their infant daughter ‘J’.

In another case, a couple in the canton of Bern were ordered to change the name of their newborn son because their choice – Jessico – was considered too feminine. 

Several names have been forbidden in Switzerland, including Judas, Chanel, Paris and Mercedes. 

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