Mother kidnaps sons to avoid Covid vaccine, ex-husband files complaint in Spain

A woman accused by her ex-husband of kidnapping their two boys to prevent them from being vaccinated against Covid-19 turned herself in to the authorities on Wednesday, officials said.

The 46-year-old woman was wanted to "kidnapping minors" after her ex-husband, who lives near the southern city of Seville, filed a complaint with police in mid-December accusing her of taking the boys aged 14 and 12 without authorisation, a judicial source told AFP.

The man said he had not seen the boys since November 4 when he received a letter from his former wife saying she planned to remove them from their school just days after a court ruled he had the right to decide whether the children should be vaccinated.

The woman turned herself in to the authorities on Wednesday morning in Seville with the two boys and a judge ordered her to be remanded in custody pending charges, the source said.

The two minors were handed over to their father on Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman for Spain's Guardia Civil police force said. With 90 per cent of over-12s in the country fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Spain has one of the highest shares of fully immunised people in Europe.