THE MOTHER of the three Belgian girls who were found in the north of Portugal last week has returned to Belgium with her daughters.
The Viseu court said the family could leave Portugal on Friday (October 3) following a hearing attended by Marie-Louise Castermans and her oldest daughter, Godelieve Otto.
The father of the three girls, Cornelius Otto, was also called for an official hearing. He is to remain in custody until the court decides whether he is to be extradited to Belgium, where he is due to face trial for alleged abduction. He signed a document authorising the girls’ return to Belgium with their mother.
Godelieve, 14, Gerda, 10, and Truke Otto, seven, had been missing since January from Deurne near Antwerp (see The Resident edition of October 4). As their parents were divorced, the girls were staying with the mother but regularly received visits from the father.
Following a regular weekend visit on January 4, their mother launched a parental abduction alert, when the father failed to bring the girls back home.
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