Australia
Teenage girl in state care found dead in Ballarat squat
A 17-year-old girl in the child protection system and her boyfriend have been found dead in a Ballarat squat.
A 17-year-old girl who was in the Victorian child protection system has been found dead alongside her boyfriend inside a derelict property in Ballarat.
According to reporting by wire services, the teenager and her 26-year-old partner were discovered deceased inside a squatting residence. The property in the regional Victorian city reportedly had no running water or electricity supply at the time of the discovery.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths of the young couple remain highly unclear. Authorities have not yet released the identities of the teenager or her older boyfriend, and the official cause of death for both individuals has not been publicly confirmed. It is also not yet known how long the pair had been living in the abandoned property, or how long they had been deceased before emergency services located their bodies.
The tragedy has raised immediate concerns regarding the oversight of vulnerable youth within the state custody and child protection systems. Because the deceased girl was under the care of the child protection system, her living situation and the level of monitoring she received prior to her death are expected to face intense scrutiny from welfare advocates.
Local police have not yet detailed whether they are treating the deaths as suspicious, or if they have initiated a formal forensic investigation at the Ballarat address. No further details about the condition of the house, or any potential hazards within the structure, have been made available.
The public will be watching for the release of the coronial findings and any subsequent inquiry into the Victorian child protection system's oversight of the teenager.
This report draws on original reporting by Wire report.
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