Dad arrested after children survive 40 days alone in Colombian jungle
A father of four children who found themselves alone in the Amazon jungle has been arrested.
A father whose children were lost in the Colombian rainforest for a terrifying 40 days surviving on fruit has been arrested by police investigating claims of domestic abuse.
A plane crash left the four children, ranging in age between one and 13 alone in the Amazon jungle after their mother and two other adults died in the accident.
Manuel Ranoque, the father of the one and four-year-old boys involved in the crash, as well as the stepfather of the older girls, has been officially detained by Colombian police.
Although the official announcement did not clarify, media reports suggest the arrest is related to claims of domestic abuse.
Astrid Eliana Caceres, the head of the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare, has said that the government organisation had been helping the relevant authorities.
She said: "We learned of the capture of the father of two Mucutuy minor children and we believe that the prosecutor's office has operated within the full framework of the law."
Ranoque has been embroiled in a legal battle with the children's maternal grandparents over custody.
After recovering from their ordeal, the four siblings have been in the custody of Colombia's child protection agency since their release from hospital.
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Narciso Mucutuy, their maternal grandfather, has accused Ranoque of abusing their mother, Magdalena Mucutuy.
Prior to the official announcement of his arrest, he told reporters there were problems in the family. However, he believed these problems to be private family matters which should not be discussed in public.
When asked if he had committed any acts of aggression against his wife, he replied: "Verbally all of a sudden, yes. Physically, very little."
The Mirror reports that in mid-July, Ranoque told reporters that the children were finally out of hospital after a "total recovery".
After the children were released from the military hospital where they spent six weeks, he said: “They are totally recovered, they are in good health. I’m very pleased.”
The Huitoto Indigenous children were involved in a plane crash on May 1, when engine problems were reported as they flew over a remote part of the Amazon rainforest known as the Araracuara.Tragically, their mother Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia - an indigenous leader - died.
She survived for four days with the children, before telling them to “get out of here”.