It was in April 2016 that Esmeralda was born. Already at birth, the staff raised concerns about how the girl's father was acting. He must have been intimidating and inhaled his own nitrous oxide in the department. This is evident from documents that SVT News Öst has taken part in.

Just a week after the birth, according to LVU, Esmeralda was taken care of the law on the care of young people. The girl was then placed in a family home at Melinda Jacobs in Vadstena. 

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Foster home mom Melinda Jacobs: "The hardest thing that has happened to us"

Esmeralda stayed in his new family home for over two years and meanwhile the biological father was sentenced to prison. But he came out and then arranged a permanent job.

Esmeralda's mother and father had another child and after that the couple starts to fight to get the girl back. At the same time, the mother's teenage children, who had been LVU-placed for some time, returned to the home.

The court order gave the parents the right

In spring 2018, the Social Committee in Norrköping rejected the parents' request. The decision was appealed, but during the summer of the same year the administrative law also said no to the biological parents. A few months later, however, the District Court changed the decision.

The court considered that the biological parents arranged their lives. So did the three-year-old's legal representative - and Esmeralda had to break up from her family home in Vadstena to move home to her biological parents. In the spring of 2019, the girl was registered at her mother's address.

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"The Court of Appeal's assessment, as I interpret it, is that it is considered that there is no longer a significant risk for this child to move home," says Henrik Walgeborg, City Attorney, Norrköping Municipality.

Last Christmas, the social committee in Norrköping received a report of concern about the little girl, but the assessment was that the girl felt good. A month later, she was found dead in her home in Norrköping.

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The social director: "Has seen shortcomings in how routines were followed" Photo: Tobias Holmqvist / SVT

The parents were arrested shortly thereafter, but after a few weeks the father died in custody. According to the Prison Service, there was no indication that it was a suicide. Both the police and the Prison and Probation Service are investigating the incident.

Prosecution can be brought on Friday

The mother has undergone a so-called section 7 examination in which her mental state has been investigated. She is now being treated at the forensic psychiatric regional clinic in Vadstena and is suspected of causing the death of her daughter, as well as two cases of serious abuse by the girl.

On Friday, she learns whether prosecution will be brought or not. The mother has constantly denied crime.

Can be a change of law

The other day Esmeralda would have celebrated four years and the tragic case has received a lot of attention, both in Norrköping and throughout the country. In light of the case, several politicians from most parties have said that something similar should never happen again.

In addition, both the Riksdag and the government have initiated investigations.

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The Minister of Social Affairs: "Really awful"