The Public Prosecution Service (OM) suspects two women of serious abuse of a one-year-old child. In February, the girl is said to have dipped her forearms into a bucket of boiling water. She suffered second and third degree burns. One of the suspects will remain in prison for three months longer, the judge decided on Thursday.
The incident took place on 1 February in a home in Rotterdam. In the months before that, the toddler was also abused. For example, her hands are said to have been tied behind her back, she was beaten and she was given too little food and drink. This was established by a doctor in the night of 1 to 2 February when the girl was taken to the Maasstad Hospital in Rotterdam.
The Public Prosecution Service suspects two women of serious assault. One is the toddler’s mother. The other suspect is 51-year-old Line W., with whom the mother and her child lived.
The mother had previously been provisionally released. In statements to the police and Youth Protection, she pointed to W. as the guilty party.
Suspect held for three months longer
The 51-year-old woman denied the allegations during a pro forma hearing on Thursday. She says the culprit is still at large. The judges decided to extend her pre-trial detention for another three months.
During the session, the Public Prosecution Service claimed that W. cared for the girl during the assaults. According to her lawyer, that is incorrect. Counsel says there are at least three witnesses who have stated that it was the mother who failed to care for her child. W. would only have provided housing to the mother and her child.
Two of those witnesses would be present when the toddler was dipped in boiling water. One of them was W’s seven-year-old son. The judges ruled that it is unnecessary to charge the seven-year-old child with a witness statement “at this stage”.
However, the two other witnesses and the youth doctor from the hospital are heard. The Public Prosecution Service must also make clear who called the hospital at what time about the burns and where the suspects were at that time.