For almost two years, the now 26-year-old Shipra L. from Tilburg abused her young stepdaughter. That started when the girl was 3 years old. She tied the baby with duct tape in a high chair. The child also had to sit naked on a stool, in her own stool. The suspect filmed this, it turned out on Tuesday in the court in Breda.
The problems played out between March 2019 and January 1, 2021. Shipra L. had been living with the girl’s biological father for some time by then. The girl was ‘difficult’ and had behavioral problems. According to L., the upbringing largely fell on her shoulders. Father was often absent because of his work.
In 2019, Shipra L. became pregnant by her then boyfriend, the biological father of the girl involved in this case. From that moment on things went wrong. “I was ill for nine months, but in the meantime I also had to take care of my stepdaughter. And when my own daughter was born, I noticed that my stepdaughter got jealous.”
In a calm tone, Shipra L., dressed casually and with long black hair, told how she made the choice to tie her stepdaughter with duct tape in a high chair. She had to go to the bathroom and didn’t trust leaving the stepdaughter with her own daughter.
She filmed this. According to the lawyer to prove that the girl was unmanageable. The public prosecutor wanted to show these images during the session on Tuesday, but the lawyer objected and the court agreed.
Shipra L. also had her stepdaughter sit naked on a stool, in her own stool. She said she did this because her stepdaughter deliberately smeared her poo and pee. As the girl sat on the stool, Shipra L. fired questions at her in a disparaging manner. “Why have you been so naughty? ‘Why are you acting like this?'” That too was filmed.
The public prosecutor said he was shocked by the image and sound fragments. “The tone is compelling and cool. Some of the comments are so mean and hurtful. Always asking why she did something. How can you be so intensely mean to a girl like that?” the officer wondered.
Shipra L. listened to it all in silence. She did say that afterwards she ‘had a lot of grief’.
She also denied that she put her stepdaughter under an ice cold shower. “It was a lukewarm shower.” When asked if she had hit her stepdaughter on the buttocks, she first replied in the negative. The judge thought that was strange. After all, she had stated otherwise in a police interrogation. “What is the truth?” asked the judge. Shipra: “I think so, but I don’t remember it all that well right now.”
Shipra L. was adopted and she did not bond well with her adoptive parents in her youth. She still carries those problems with her. She has had EMDR therapy and since she was 19 she has had personal guidance on a daily basis.
That guidance was also there during the period of abuse. When it all got too much for her, Shipra L. rang the bell for help, but she didn’t get enough. “Out of sheer desperation, she then tied her stepdaughter to the high chair for a few minutes,” said the lawyer.
The Public Prosecution Service demanded a community service of 120 hours, of which 60 hours suspended, with a probationary period of three years. Shipra L.’s attorney asked for an acquittal. The verdict is in two weeks.