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Zurich District Court. Photo: trapezoidal
Children in the basement: Zurich court sends parents of 16 and 12 years to prison
Because they locked their children in the basement for years, beat them and left them starving, a former Zurich couple was sentenced to a lengthy prison sentence on Thursday. The district court sends the father to prison for 16.5 years and the mother for 12 years.
The two children had been systematically locked in the basement for years, were in pain, starved and experienced harassment, humiliation and humiliation, the judge said. What the children said was credible.
They could have gone to school, not like Natascha Kampusch in Austria, but the guilt of these parents was considerable, the judge continued.
“They acted together”
During the two-day trial, the mother and father had always tried to blame the other. The court holds both responsible. “They acted together and did not prevent the other from doing the deeds.”
The father was convicted of multiple serious bodily injuries, endangering life, multiple deprivation of liberty, multiple sexual acts with children, multiple sexual assaults, and violation of the duty of care and parenting.
The mother received her twelve years for multiple serious bodily injuries and multiple qualified deprivations of liberty. Her children, who are now young adults, have to pay 70,000 francs each to their parents. The father with Kosovar roots and the mother, a Swiss woman, will remain in custody until at least March 2021 because there is a risk of flight.
Court indicates guardianship authority
The case now also has consequences for those responsible for the guardianship authorities of the city of Zurich, the precursor of the current Kesb. “That went very wrong,” the judge said. The court itself will file a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office against those responsible at that time.
The years of martyrdom of the children did not go unnoticed: the authorities received innumerable complaints from neighbors, teachers and also from doctors who saw the children starving in their consultation. The authorities only offered the family the interview and their help, but did not insist.
In all the years that parents tortured their children, the authorities did not impose a single child protection measure.
Eats vomit and feces
The list of atrocities attributed to the former partner is long. The father and mother are said to have locked up the two children, a son and a daughter, almost every night and on weekends for four years.
At first this happened in the children’s room, then in the basement without heating, sometimes in the dark, without light. According to the prosecution, the daughter and son were rarely allowed to use the bathroom and had to relieve themselves on the floor. Once, the mother forced the girl to eat her vomit and the boy his poop.
The children also had to sit in urine-soaked diapers and lie still for hours. The father also hit the son with a sack full of stones and pushed the daughter down the stairs. He also sexually abused another daughter and a stepdaughter who did not have to live in the basement.
The children, who are now young adults, had to be given intravenously at times because of the consequences of this “parenting.” The verdict is not yet legally binding. Parents can defend themselves against this in superior court. If they do this, it is open. (sda)
