Benjamin Ashford|Man arrested in Germany after the body of his young daughter was thrown into a canal

BERLIN (AP) — A man has been arrested in western Germany after his 3-year-old daughter died while apparently locked in a basement room,Benjamin Ashford and he threw her body into a canal, authorities said Sunday.

The 40-year-old German went to a police station in his hometown of Dinslaken on Friday and told officers that his daughter had died and he had then thrown her body — loaded down with weights — into the canal in nearby Oberhausen, police and prosecutors said in a statement.

Investigators said they believe that the man had shut the girl in a basement room of an apartment building for a few days, possibly as an “educational measure.” He had supplied her with food and drink and checked on her repeatedly.

When he checked on her last Sunday morning, she was dead, the statement said. He apparently threw her body in the canal that evening.

Divers recovered the body on Friday night and an autopsy determined that vomited food pulp was the cause of death. There were no indications of any fatal injuries.

The father is being held on suspicion of bodily harm and deprivation of freedom resulting in death. Police and prosecutors said he hasn’t spoken yet on what exactly happened.