The stench inside a room where an intellectually disabled woman was kept locked for 17 hours a day with two dogs was "unbearable", a police sergeant told a magistrate today.
Lydon Zammit said he was impressed with the smell of dogs' urine and faeces inside the room where the 39-year-old woman was being kept. There was also a bucket for her needs and mounds of clothes scattered across the room.
He said he had gone to the apartment in Birzebbuga after the police were informed about the case by another woman who used to live in the same apartment.
The sergeant was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Anna Maria Jimenez, a 33-year-old Maltese woman, who is pleading not guilty to locking up the victim, threatening her, assaulting her and causing her slight injuries.
Ms Jimenez is also charged with threatening a 29-year-old woman who was her flatmate for the past five months.
Mr Zammit told Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit that the police began investigating the case after the 29-year-old left the apartment and spilled the beans on what was happening inside.
He said investigations revealed how, at around 8 or 9pm every day, Ms Jimenez would lock up the victim in her “bedroom” and would give her Playmobil parts for her to put together, which she would then exchange for money at the factory.
Ms Jimenez, who works as a cleaner at Mater Dei Hospital, would unlock the room upon her return from work at around 3pm when she would feed her and clean the room.
The stench was so unbearable that it was difficult for us to spend much time in there
"When we went to the apartment, the smell was overpowering and sickening. The stench was so unbearable that it was difficult for us to spend much time in there," the sergeant said.
He said that after the police had intervened, the 39-year-old victim thanked the police for saving her. She had been living with Ms Jimenez for nine years.
The 29-year-old flatmate who revealed the case after having witnessed this since April told the magistrate how she felt threatened by Ms Jimenez, who had helped her find a job as a cleaner at the same hospital.
She testified on how she was asked to pay more money for rent and had also been pressured to give Ms Jimenez her Cashlink card and the PIN number.
The woman said she had occasionally seen Ms Jimenez slapping the other victim.
Police Inspectors Joseph Busuttil and Sylvana Briffa are prosecuting. Lawyers Joe Giglio and Mario Spiteri are appearing for the defence.