At the end of September, a woman suspected that something was not right about two of her children – a boy and a girl, both aged ten – who are registered at the father's home, and called the police.
A preliminary investigation was launched and a day later two men were arrested in a neighboring Nordic country, together with the children.
One is the children's father, the other the children's uncle.
All live in the county.
- Where they were going, I do not want to comment, but we make the assessment that they had not reached their final destination.
The children followed of their own accord, there was in any case no violence or coercion involved, says Karin Koci, who describes the case as unusual.
- Taking the children abroad is not the norm, but we handle a few cases a year.
The children have been returned to Sweden and the two men are in custody.
Previously convicted
According to documents obtained by SVT Nyheter Uppsala, the social service has on several occasions investigated the children's living situation and noted that "there are concerns about honor-related problems".
Karin Koci does not want to comment on possible motives.
The father of the children has previously been suspected and detained for having abducted his three children, but the investigation was closed in Sweden with the justification that "the suspect was sentenced for basically the same crime" in another European country.
- Yes, there have been occasions before, says Karin Koci.
Both men deny any wrongdoing, their lawyers say.