The second week of the trial of the former manager of the "Léiwe Léiw" ('Kind Lion') nursery has begun. Again, none of the employees at the time considered the situation to be favourable.
"She was not someone you could talk to." "She is someone who is not cut out for this job." "She is really aggressive." "She doesn't know how to work with children"...These are the criticisms aimed at the former head of the nursery by a teacher who worked there for two and a half months, until the nursery shut down in October 2017. At this mention, the accused continuously shook her head and denied these statements, until the judge indicated she should stop.
The depositions made on Tuesday by former employees confirmed the witnesses' claims from last week. At the crèche (nursery), the situation seemingly very serious during meal time, which allegedly was planned to the second and expected to happen very quickly. The former staff member described that the manager would force the children to eat in a violent way, requiring them to keep their mouths open and stuff too large portions into their mouths. Sometimes the children would gag or even vomit.
She also raised the lack of hygiene in the nursery, particularly when it came to nappies, in an effort to save money. Sometimes they were only changed at certain times of the day. If a child arrived in the morning and was still wearing a Pampers, which he or she did not need during the day, it was taken away and kept to be used for another child. Nappies were reportedly rationed and every effort was made to save them. These statements were also confirmed by other witnesses who worked at the daycare.
One witness also mentioned the case of a young woman who had worked at the crèche and who had been treated like a slave by the accused. This woman was none other than the accused's own niece, who now is 32 years old. Initially, she could not utter a word when she first appeared before the judge to testify. "I can't, if she's in the room," she said, crying. After the judge had consoled her, she attested that she had been insulted by her aunt, pulled by the hair and hit if she made a mistake in cleaning up - she reportedly even had marks on her arms. Her aunt had offered her to clean at the daycare to earn money, as she was in debt due to a high mobile phone bill. At the nursery, the young woman also looked after the children. She also testified that many things did not happen as they should have in a children's daycare facility.
However, the parents of the daycare's children knew nothing about this at the time of closure. Four of them were heard on Tuesday as witnesses but did not make any particular observations about their children. There was a good relationship between the defendant and the parents, said one of the former employees, but it was all for show. The important thing for her former employer was not the welfare of the child, but the satisfaction of the parents.
The defendant is being prosecuted for premeditated bodily harm to 15 children and at least three employees of the nursery.
