Swedish couple who raised their baby as a VEGAN are jailed for three months after the 18-month-old nearly starved to death
- The baby was rushed to hospital in February after she became unresponsive
- She had been fed on a vegan diet of breast milk, brown rice and potatoes
- Her parents – who described themselves as ‘nomads’ – also follow vegan diets
- Doctors in Gothenburg said the child had been just hours away from death
A Swedish couple who raised their baby girl on a vegan diet have been jailed for three months after the 18-month-old nearly starved to death.
The child’s diet of breast milk, brown rice and potatoes had been negligent and threatened her life, the judge at Gothenburg District Court told the parents on Thursday.
The baby was rushed to hospital in the city in February in a critical condition and in an unresponsive state. Doctors said she was just hours from death.
Medics provided evidence her condition was due to ‘prolonged starvation’ and one said it was ‘worse than anything we have seen at the hospital before,’ The Local reported.
Gothenburg District Court where the couple were sentenced to three months in prison for gross negligence causing bodily harm on Thursday morning
She had never been registered with the authorities and after recovering with three weeks at Queen Silvia’s children’s hospital she was taken into foster care.
Her foster mother told the court the baby had recovered well.
‘According to their ideological belief that the daughter was a citizen of the world, her parents did not even report the birth to any authority, have her checked at a paediatric centre, or even weigh or measure her growth,’ a statement from the court obtained by The Local said.
‘Nor has the girl been vaccinated or examined by a doctor,’ it added.
Judge Per Norden said that though their daughter had not been intentionally harmed, he found some of the parents’ views ‘remarkable’ – particularly those of the mother who believed people could survive without food and water with the correct conditioning.
Prosecutor Ximena Bene had pressed for two or three years imprisonment for the parents, whereas their defence lawyers argued the child’s condition had been due to a stomach bug.
The parents, who also follow vegan diets, call themselves ‘nomads’ and tend to live with friends, Ekuriren reported.
Queen Silvia’s children’s hospital where the baby recovered for three weeks after she nearly died in February
Her parents were sentenced for gross negligence causing bodily harm.
They have been detained for two months and effectively served their sentences on remand already, but were also ordered to pay 60,000 kronor (£5,000) in damages to their daughter.
The parents will be permitted to spend eight weeks with their baby under supervision at a care facility monitored by social services.
The father was further sentenced for several minor crimes including drugs offences and drink driving.