Heartless

Argentina rescues girl kept for nine
years in garage

Police in Argentina say they have rescued a 15-
year-old girl who had been starved, beaten and
kept in a garage for nine years by her foster
parents.
The girl weighed only 20 kilos (44 pounds), and
said she had been fed only bread and water in her
captivity.
Her only company had been that of a dog and a
monkey, and she said she was beaten with a belt
if she tried to eat the leftover food thrown to the
pets.
Her carers have been arrested and charged with
slavery and abuse.
The teenager was found in the Argentine capital,
Buenos Aires, by one of her biological sisters, who
had lost track of her.
The girl, who has been hospitalised, said she had
been out of the garage only twice in nine years.
According to officials, her foster parents took the
girl into care provisionally in 2001 after a court
found that her biological parents, who had seven
more children, were financially unable to look after
her.
At first, the two families kept in contact, but it is
unclear what happened after 2005 and why her
biological family reportedly lost track of the girl.
Her foster parents were waiting for the girl's
adoption papers to be finalised.