Guilty, for the abuse of her two adopted children who were minors, was the 49-year-old mother in Zakynthos, who was sentenced to 16 months with suspension.

Charges against her include domestic threat as well as domestic violence by compulsion and repetition.

On her part, the mother’s lawyer stated that the case “has taken on significant dimensions with what has been written, most of which were unjust. She will return home most probably tomorrow where she will be back with her children and with be receiving visits from social workers for help. Even the children themselves have stated that they miss their dad.”

In the past authorities had arrested the foster mother of the two under-aged children, following complaints made by neighbours who investigated the case, while at the same time the children’s father put an end to his life a few days ago when he shot himself with his hunting rifle. Crushed by the developments of the case are the relatives of the family, who had not realised that the children were being abused by the mother.

According to a family member speaking earlier to protothema.gr, the children’s father before taking his life left a series of notes and in one of them he wrote: “I love my children very much and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing,” leaving unanswered questions to his family and relatives. In the notes, according to sources, he did not write the reason for ending his life, making the landscape surrounding his suicide unclear.

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Just 24 hours after the 49-year old’s suicide, the mother revealed that she was abusing the children they had adopted. Just before her husband’s funeral, she even posted on her Facebook account asking her online friends to give money instead of wreaths. “Please, whoever wants, instead of a wreath, leave something for my children.”

Additionally, a person from the family environment of the deceased spoke to protothema.gr and stated that the couple, after many unsuccessful attempts at in vitro fertilization, managed to adopt. According to the same person, the father was ecstatic when he and his wife managed to bring the two adopted children into their home. The mother, however, seemed dissatisfied.

“The couple had been trying for many years with in vitro fertilisation to have their own children. But they didn’t succeed. So they decided to adopt two children. The father was overjoyed when he and his wife managed to bring the two adopted children into their home. The mother gave us the impression that she didn’t really want these children because she wanted her own. The father’s insistence on having children, even adopted ones, was significant. We knew there were some tensions and arguments in the family, and many times there were conflicts between the mother and the children. But this did not lead us to imagine that she was abusing them. We also knew the mother has been receiving psychiatric treatment in recent years. It was wrong to stop the checks on the family after the adoption of the children. When her husband committed suicide and posted on Facebook asking for money for the children, we then realised that she was using them as pawns. It is shameful and sad for the children to live in such situations, from the moment that we as relatives had embraced them from the beginning and made them feel that we are their family.”

A few days following their father’s death, the both children, aged 12 and 9 respectively, would leave the house seeking help from their neighbours, stating that their mother was abusing them. The woman they turned to for help informed the police, and the 49-year-old mother was immediately arrested. The children were then taken to the hospital in Zakynthos. After being examined by doctors, signs of abuse were found on their bodies.