The parents of a young girl who was taken away from their custody last December following suspicion of abuse have called on the courts to remedy the situation.

The girl was taken away from school by social workers after teachers reported she had been playing with dolls in a manner suggestive of abuse.

“It is unacceptable that an inquiry revolving around the behaviour of a seven-year-old girl with a doll has not been completed after almost 80 days... it emerges clearly that the state has totally failed to safeguard against the breakup of a family,” the parents said in their application to court.

The state should make an effort to find other methods to protect children and not resort to “the most draconian solution that has shattered this family," they added.

They said the girl has suffered irreparable harm and trauma by being uprooted from her family and made to live with strangers. “Certainly all this was not done with the best interests of the child in mind,” the parents claimed.

They called upon the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Police to either take legal action against them for the alleged abuse or annul the care order.

The parents explained they were informed that they were under suspicion of having sexually abused their seven-year-old girl on December 12 after their daughter had already been taken away from school by the police without any forewarning.The girl was entrusted to a foster family.

The parents said that although they strongly protested their innocence, they waited patiently and cooperated fully with the authorities in the hope that investigations into the matter would be over and done with as soon as possible.

Following a phone call from Appoġġ, they were told that a social worker would be paying them regular visits at home and that this would involve a payment of €350.

Hoping that their ordeal would soon be over, they paid the requested sum, cooperated fully with the social worker and attended regular sessions at the support agency's offices.

Having lost all contact with their daughter since her removal in December, they were recently told by a family member that the girl had been spotted in Gozo. This led then to discover that their daughter was actually residing with a Gozitan foster family.

The parents condemned the fact that such "important decisions are taken behind the backs of parents" and that they should be deprived of their daughter until the authorities decided whether to prosecute or not.

Lawyers David Camilleri and Joseph Gatt signed the protest.