'Suburban Tarzan's' dad dies
2008-11-27 22:54
Vienna - Hartmut S, the Austrian-born man who kept his eight-year-old son prisoner in Johannesburg surburb of Olivedale for four years, died on Wednesday, Austria's Foreign Ministry confirmed on Thursday.
The boy was discovered alone at home on November 17, when he asked employees from a business across the road to get him something to eat.
His father, a 68-year-old former airline pilot, had collapsed five days earlier and was taken to hospital.
The man told The Star newspaper he didn't allow the boy out for security reasons and he didn't want anyone to know he had a son, whom he reportedly fathered with a domestic worker that had since disappeared.
Whether Hartmut S was still an Austrian citizen remains unclear, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Harald Stranzl said.
The boy is currently in hospital care and is "in good condition, according to the circumstances," Stranzl said. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA