A family tragedy ended up in court today, with three daughters accusing their parents and their sister of contributing to the death of their mentally ill sibling.
Separately, the whole family was also accused by the police of taking the law into their own hands, while the three daughters were accused of assaulting their mother and threatening her.
The two cases were heard together today, just days after the mentally ill daughter passed away and was buried. Magistrate Francesco Depasquele, however, acquitted them all, saying that they needed time to grieve and to find common ground on how to deal with the death of the daughter.
Taking the witness stand, one of the three daughters said that she and two of her sisters were mentally and physically abused by her father. Her mother was meant to be taking care of their sister - who suffered schizophrenia - but it had resulted that she did the opposite. She said that while her sister lay dead at home, her mother ransacked her room, took €17,000 in cash and talked of making home improvements. She also refused to use the money to buy a proper grave and in the end her sister was buried in a public grave.
She said that her sister was found dead in a bathroom, but her mother had still used the toilet in that room, instead of using a second bathroom.
The witness said her sister had been taking medication which caused side effects. Although her mother had claimed that she spoke to a doctor on the side effects, the doctor denied that the mother ever called him about them.
In reply, the mother, in between sobs, told the court that her daughters had beaten her up and said horrible things to her in the last few days. She was punched in the face.
She insisted she never knew how much cash was in her daughter's bedroom and she did not need it.
Magistrate Depasquele asked the lawyers whether they agreed that the money - which had been deposited in court - could be used to buy a grave and for a proper burial. Defence lawyers Stefano Filletti and Arthur Azzopardi said they agreed. The Magistrate then spoke to the family. He expressed his sympathy and told them that he was going to acquit them all since it was so soon after the funeral, and they needed time to come to terms with the death and to find common ground on how to deal with this issue.
When the three sisters left the court, the father asked the magistrate why they had not been accused of assaulting his wife. The Magistrate said they were in fact charged, but he was acquitting them for the reasons he had explained - that the circumstances of the case were such that the parties needed to come to some sort of agreement.
Dr Filletti highlighted that the body could not be moved before two years and the proper burial, therefore, cannot take place before another two years.
Names have not been published to respect the family's privacy at a time of mourning.