A 33-year-old woman from southern Greece has been charged with the murder of her 9-year-old daughter, and the deaths of her two other daughters in the past three years are being reviewed in a case that has drawn national attention.
The suspect, who was not formally identified in accordance with Greek law, was arrested a day after being detained for questioning on Wednesday. Flanked by riot police and in handcuffs, she appeared in court in Athens on Thursday for her arraignment.
This came after the results of tissue tests showed the presence of an anaesthetic drug that had not been administered by the girl’s doctors. The 9-year-old died in January following an eight-month hospitalisation.
A panel of senior coroners is also leading a review into the death of the suspect’s two other children: a 3-year-old girl from liver failure in 2019 and a 6-month-old girl in 2021 from a suspected heart defect.
Tissue samples retained from the two girls are now being re-examined, authorities said.
The suspect has denied any wrongdoing and is expected to formally respond to the charges on Monday.
Angry mob gathers outside suspects house:
With this news causing shockwaves across Greece, protesters also gathered outside the mother’s home in the port city of Patras on Wednesday night.
Roughly 500 people could be heard calling out “Hang her” and “Give her to the people.” Others were calling for the woman’s family, who were inside, to come out and face them.
Greek police were forced to intervene to maintain order.
The crowd started to disperse around 4 o’clock in the morning and the family left the home a short time later.
Source: Ekathimerini.
