In Dnipro, foster parents tortured six children: they forced them to sleep on a bench and to imitate animals

In Dnipro, a couple of foster parents of a family-type children’s home will stand trial. According to the investigation, from 2019–2024 they systematically tortured and humiliated six children aged from 3 to 10 years. The indictment has already been sent to court.

This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General. The children were beaten, deprived of food and punished for the slightest faults. According to the case materials, the couple used insulting and obscene words instead of the names of the children in their care.

Among the episodes described by the investigation are brutal punishments and psychological violence:

• the girls could have their heads shaved and be beaten with rose stems;
• one child was struck in the face with a rod over a lost needle that they had used to try to sew clothing;
• punishments for so-called disobedience sometimes lasted for weeks;
• the children were forced to sleep on a wooden bench without bedding and were left with only bread and water, including for eating without permission;
• a belt with a metal buckle, rods, sticks and a carpet beater were used for beatings;
• one of the wards said he was first kicked in the head, after which the caregiver continued to hit him with fists;
• the children were made to kneel on buckwheat and forced to walk on stones until their feet began to bleed;
• the wards were chained and forced to imitate animal behavior;
• food could be thrown on the ground, and if the child refused to pick it up they would push the child’s face into the bread;
• in one case, a boy was put on a collar after a walk with a dog.

In addition, the children were involved in unpaid repair work at the foster parents’ dacha.

The abuse only became known several years later. An older child enrolled in an educational institution and reported what had been happening in the home.

The investigation has been completed. The couple was charged under part 1 of Article 28 and parts 1 and 2 of Article 127 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The family-type children’s home has ceased operations. All the wards were placed with other foster families.

Earlier we wrote:

• Abuse in front of other children: a 13-year-old teen is suspected of torturing a boy
• An 85-year-old ensemble director is suspected of pedophilia: 4 women spoke about what they experienced in childhood
• Insults, threats and even “jokes”: why the police may now be called at school
• Mykolaiv: a family raises 9 children; 5 additional brothers and sisters removed from their family joined 4 of the wards
• Hell behind closed doors: children were tortured for years in a ‘family’ house