A 9-year-old girl was tortured by her father in the presence of her stepmother.
Valentina was killed in a macabre way. The father, Sandro, is said to have questioned his daughter for suspecting that the 9-year-old girl had sexual involvement with classmates at school and was the victim of sexual abuse by a man whom the child treated as “godfather”. The girl would have remained silent and, for that reason, Sandro tortured her with hot water and multiple assaults.
According to the investigation by the Leiria Judicial Police, in the face of the child’s silence, the parent started by burning his feet with very hot water while bathing, while hitting his legs and tail. Sandro tried to asphyxiate the girl, all in the presence of his stepmother, Márcia. A strong slap on the head would turn out to be fatal. The couple left the child dying on the couch.
The girl’s hell started a week before she died. It is recalled that this Wednesday, the Valentina’s father, Sandro, confessed that he violently beat his daughter last May 1st, five days before the child’s death, in Peniche.
According to the defendant’s statements, the girl did not want to say whether she was being the victim of sexual abuse. Sandro admitted that he “gave the child a big blow”. The autopsy report confirms that the girl had injuries prior to the day of her death, May 6.
On the day she died, Valentina was again violently beaten by her father. The girl eventually died. Sandro transported the body to the trunk of the car.
According to testimony of Márcia in tribunel, the stepmother then drove the car, with Sandro at the side instead of the hanger, and Valentina already dead and lying in the back seat. They ended up abandoning the body in a place of brush, 150 meters from a road, in a place without lighting, and with broom. Márcia helped her husband to cover the body. The Court of Leiria this Wednesday decreed a preventive detention for Valentina’s father and stepmother.
Sandro Bernardo is accused of qualified homicide and domestic violence. Márcia is also accused of qualified homicide. Both defendants are still charged with the crime of desecrating a corpse. The girl’s stepmother goes to the Tires jail, while the father will stay in preventive at the Lisbon Prison.
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