Child abuse, Violence | Mother sentenced to five years in prison for child abuse

The woman, who is now in her 50s, has been sentenced to five years in prison for abusing her two children for several years. She is also sentenced to pay more than eight million kroner in compensation to the children, and to not contact the children.

The two girls were both born and raised in Norway, but the family has a strong connection to an African country. The eldest daughter is now in her early 20s, while the youngest is in her teens. It appears from the judgment that the child welfare services have been concerned about the eldest girl throughout much of her upbringing, without them having picked up on the seriousness of the family situation.

Part of the abuse took place in an African country, where the mother moved with the children when they got older.

In 2021, Norwegian authorities were contacted by the children and told that they were being held in the African country against their will. Extensive contact was initiated between the Norwegian authorities in Norway and abroad and the two girls, which resulted in the Norwegian authorities helping the girls escape home to Norway.

Nettavisen has chosen not to disclose which country in Africa it is talking about, in order to protect the daughters’ identities.

Serious violence

When the girls returned to Norway, they told of extensive violence committed by their mother. The conditions for which the mother has now been convicted have occurred both in Norway and in Africa over a period of 15 years.

– The case has naturally been a great burden for my client. It is extra burdensome that the offenses were committed by the mother, says the lawyer for the assistance of the youngest daughter to Nettavisen.

In the judgment, the Oslo District Court writes that what is decisive for the punishment is not the acts of violence in themselves, but the regime in which the children grew up. “The central thing is the extent to which these form a pattern that results in the victim having to live under a ” regime” characterized by continuous insecurity and fear of violence”, it says, among other things.

According to the verdict, the mother exposed the daughters to physical and psychological abuse through violence, coercion, threats and offensive behaviour. The abuse consisted, among other things, of hitting with an open and clenched hand and with objects, kicking, pushing, shoving and throwing objects at the daughters.

– There were also episodes where the defendant, instead of hitting or doing both, rubbed chili or jalapeno in (the daughter’s) eyes or lips if she had said something wrong. (She) was then told by the defendant that she had a “dirty mouth”. The defendant also did this to her abdomen. She was then ordered into the shower to wash off the “dirty”. It happened several times and it eventually became a regular punishment for (the eldest daughter), says the judgment from the Oslo District Court.

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The mother denies criminal guilt

The youngest girl was also subjected to sibling alienation by her mother, so that she only got a good relationship with her sister when they were abducted to Africa.

Nettavisen has been in contact with the convicted woman’s defenders, Petter Mandt, who does not wish to comment on the case. In court, the mother said that the accusations against her are false, and that she has done the best she could through the children’s upbringing. She explained that she had taken the children to Africa because her mother had been ill.

The Oslo district court did not believe the mother’s explanation, but based the children’s explanation about mental and physical abuse over several years. Their explanations are also supported by witness statements from the children’s friends, as well as documents from child protection which show that there were major problems, even if the child protection was unable to uncover the seriousness of the children’s home situation.

Both daughters have it very hard even today, as a result of the abuse committed by a person who should have given them security growing up. The high compensation is because the mistreatment will also affect the daughters in the future.

Lying about suicide attempts

Among other things, the eldest girl has told the police that as a seven-year-old she was threatened with a knife by her mother and was terrified of being killed. The reason was that she had not looked after her little sister well enough. The mother is said to have also threatened to kill her throughout her upbringing. She was subjected to physical violence if, for example, she had not done her homework well enough. She eventually learned that the more she cried, the more she got beaten, and that it was best to be quiet.

She made her first suicide attempt at the age of nine, when she threw herself out of the window in the block where she lived. Before the ambulance arrived, the mother had whispered to her daughter that she loved her. The young girl had been so happy to hear that her mother loved her, that she did not say that the fall from the block had been a suicide attempt, because she had been afraid of being stabbed to death by her mother.

When the girl reached her teens, the threats and control regime escalated. The girl was not allowed to wear a hijab, but her mother wanted to have control over who she was with and what she did. She did not like the friends who had a different cultural background, including the Norwegian ones. If she came home late, she was locked out.

Child protection was involved several times. The girl experienced that she was misunderstood by child welfare services, and that her notification of child abuse was interpreted as youth rebellion.

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– I can kill you if I want

When the mother discovered that her daughter had found a boyfriend, the mother moved to her homeland in Africa with both daughters. Here the violence escalated. The eldest daughter has said, among other things, that she was severely abused throughout the night, because she had tried to escape. She eventually understood that her mother could kill her without consequences, and that it was best not to annoy her.

In Africa, violence against the youngest daughter also increased.

– After they arrived in (the African country), the defendant used to beat her when she came home from Koranic school. The accused could say “I own you” and “I can kill you if I want”. The threats from the defendant to be beaten if she did not do enough homework, that she was beaten, kicked, stepped on and that the defendant rubbed chili in (the little sister’s) eyes, are stated in the verdict.

In one case in Africa, the girl was strangled so tightly around the neck that she was sure she would die, if a neighbor and her older sister had not come to the rescue.

The eldest daughter turned 18 while in Africa. The mother wanted to marry her off to an older man, but her father said no and thus prevented this.

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Escaped

For nearly three years, the two girls were in Africa. Towards the end, the youngest of the siblings told her older sister that she could not bear to live there, and that she would rather take her own life.

This meant that the older sister made another attempt to get help from Norway. She got in touch with the Norwegian embassy in the country. There she was told that they could help her home since she was over 18, but that her little sister had to stay behind. The young woman could not accept that.

– (The older sister) could not leave without (the younger sister) because then (the younger sister) would be married off and she would never see her again. The embassy came back and said they would help both (little sister) and (elder sister), the judgment states.

Over several months, the Norwegian authorities planned an escape for the two young girls, without the mother finding out about the plans. This flight was completed in 2021.

Nettavisen has been in contact with the legal aid lawyers for both children. They do not wish to comment on the case beyond what has been reproduced above.