Milan, 16 May (LaPresse) – The Novara State Police have investigated three people for domestic abuse, child abandonment and personal injury committed against a 14-month-old girl found in poor health and testing positive for cocaine.In recent months, an Italian woman reported that she had entered into a romantic relationship with a foreign man, who was in the country illegally and whom she knew only by his nickname. Following repeated abuse, he forced her to carry the pregnancy to term so that he could apply for a residence permit linked to the birth of his child. The relationship continued for several months after the birth, until the man took the baby girl with him and disappeared without trace. The Novara Mobile Squad, section for crimes against the person, launched an investigation and managed to identify the man, who was homeless and had numerous previous convictions for crimes against the person, property, drugs and possession of illegal weapons. After months of continuous searching, the man was tracked down in a nightclub and, after initial resistance, confessed to investigators that he had entrusted the child to a convicted drug addict living in the province, according to a statement released by the State Police.The officers were then able to locate the exact whereabouts of the minor and, once they gained access to the house, found the child, who had been forced to live in conditions of neglect and poor hygiene, for which reason she was taken to the Maggiore Hospital in Novara.