​​The case of Oleksandra, a 9-year-old girl from Galati, who was killed by her mother after repeated blows, continues to reveal new shocking details. Reported since March 2023, representatives of the Office of Child Protection and the Social Department of the City Hall have done nothing to medically examine the girl and her younger sisters aged 3 and 7, who were also frequently attacked. Without access to the full case history, social workers concluded the little girls were well cared for and were not at risk, according to a report by the NHS watchdog. Child Rights and Adoption (ANPDCA).

A 9-year-old girl from Galati died at the end of January, in the apartment where she lived with her sisters, mother, aunt and uncle, she was found by SMURD crews with traces of special violence on her body. She had bruises all over her body and deep burns after she was allegedly burned with a lit lighter, and a medical examiner’s report found that she died of extremely severe external and internal injuries.

“The woman committed violent acts against her baby girl, repeatedly striking her with blunt objects, causing her burns and squeezing her with her hands, causing traumatic injuries throughout the body, which accumulated consequences (traumatic and hemorrhagic shock), ultimately leading to the direct and unequivocal cause of death.” , – the prosecutor’s office of the Galatsk Court reports.

At the beginning of February, the National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of the Child and Adoption announced that it had sent an inspection body to the DGASPC Galaţi, as well as the Social Assistance Office of the Municipality of Galaţi, to check how the case was managed and instrumented, in conditions where the authorities had been informed of the situation in the family of three little girls since last March, when representatives of the kindergarten, where the middle child was enrolled, noticed that she had bruises on her body.

“Separate Episode”

The ANPDCA announced on Tuesday that the Control Body’s report had been completed, and a number of serious problems had been identified in the handling of the case of the deceased girl and two sisters by both the DGASPC Galaţi and the Social Assistance Department (DAS) of the Galaţi Town Hall.

According to the Ministry of Family Affairs, at the time the authorities were notified, in March 2023, the psychologist who would have evaluated the three girls did not believe they had signs of abuse and only recommended that maternal uncles be involved in upbringing and education. children’s education, given that the mother could not take care of them on her own due to mental disabilities.

The psychologist also believed that it was only a “separate episode”, therefore “monitoring of the situation in children should take place at home in order to prevent a risk situation in physical and mental development.”

In addition, at that time, specialists from the Galatsi DGASPC did not take any steps to medically examine the girl and her sisters to determine whether any of them had been abused, although the nurse at the kindergarten recommended that the girl be counselled. to the family doctor.

“groomed”

The Monitoring Group also found that, although DGASPC Galati asked DAS Galati to monitor the situation of the girls and report the occurrence of a risk situation, it did not provide too many details about the case and did not communicate plans for the rehabilitation and/or social reintegration of the children.

• “Therefore, without having access to the entire history of the case, the specialists of the Social Assistance Service of the City Hall established that the girls are under proper care and are not in a risk situation, so they remain in the family, with their mother and the family of their maternal uncle, who lived in the same house.
• The series of deficiencies identified also include the fact that DAS Galaţi did not send two monitoring reports compiled for three children to DGASPC Galaţi, and does not have clear procedures for monitoring children who are victims of abuse or are at risk of abuse. .
• Thus, the report of the monitoring group recommended establishing a joint working procedure between the two institutions to monitor the situation of children who have suffered from ill-treatment,” the report of the ANPDCA Monitoring Body also states.

Psychologist and social worker, disciplinary investigation

The ANPDCA also says that the main measures proposed by the review team are to transfer to another service and start a disciplinary investigation into the case of the psychologist and social worker who dealt with the case of the deceased girl and her sisters.

In addition, a disciplinary investigation measure was also proposed in the case of the head of the Public Social Assistance Service in the Galaţi City Hall for the way he managed during the same period the activities of monitoring minors involved in this case, as well as the activities of the service he coordinates in as a whole

• “Given the findings of the monitoring group and the shortcomings identified in this case, the president of the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption will formally interrogate by sending a circular at the national level to all General Directorates of Social Assistance and Child Welfare. Protection, to review the entire framework procedure for tools and monitoring of cases of abuse of minors and at the same time to establish at the local level complete procedures with clear stages and deadlines for cooperation with social assistance services in the city of Zala, in order to avoid situations where cases of abuse, abuse and exploitation of minors remain unsolved for a long period of time,” added the quoted source.

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