Two brothers from Arad County, aged 15 and 13, have requested state protection against their parents. They say they were constantly beaten, forced to work in the sheepfold and kept away from school. The boy managed to escape and alerted the authorities, telling how his sister was seriously injured in a fight and the father sewed her up himself at home.
The two children were forced to work all day at the family farm and say they were beaten very often. Many times, they were not even allowed to go to school. Initially, the authorities took the two minors, as well as the mother, and took them to a secret location, far from the father.
The mother did not want to stay with them and returned home to her husband. Why did they force me to file a criminal case, I’ll sell everything and that’s it. It’s their job. People’s influence. Influence does a lot, says the children’s mother. The authorities learned of the two children’s drama when the 15-year-old teenager ran away from home.
An RO-Alert was issued for a missing child. He was found unharmed, but the young man reached Child Protection, where he began to tell what he was experiencing at home, including the horrors his sister had gone through.
Zaharie Matcău, public administrator of Bârsa commune: “Well, from what was officially known, she fell and hit her mouth. And then she wore a mask”.
In the village, the neighbors knew all too well what the children were going through. They also helped them with food, but they were afraid of their father and didn’t say anything. She said she was beaten and always forced to stay with the sheep and not allowed to go to school.
On top of that, the girl had her leg broken twice, says a neighbor. They were tortured, they ran away from home because they were made to work, they were beaten, they were hungry all the time, unwashed, uncared for, says a woman.
Crina Stan, psychologist, General Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection Arad: “At the moment they are secured, the emergency measure was instituted and now they are protected in a foundation. The situation is extremely serious, because these children have been abused physically, mentally, socially, and economically by their own parents”.
Prosecutors have opened a criminal case against the father. He is to be summoned for questioning. The mother could also be investigated for complicity.