Three Caregivers Charged with Torturing 17 Children in Ariel Daycare
Translated & summarized from Makan by baba
Three caregivers from the "Luchik" daycare in Ariel, Israel, have been indicted for over 400 instances of abuse against 17 young children. The charges include suffocation, restraint, and forced feeding, with prosecutors seeking their detention. Parents reacted with outrage in court, and one mother expressed shock and certainty of harm to her child, noting a lack of video evidence shown to parents.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Three caregivers at Ariel's "Luchik" daycare face charges for abusing 17 children.
- The indictment details over 400 alleged incidents of suffocation, restraint, and forced feeding.
- The accused include daycare director Natalia Kasilevsky and caregivers Darina Khalova and Anna Bagalsky.
- Prosecutors are seeking the detention of the three women until the end of legal proceedings.
- Parents reacted with anger in court, and one mother expressed shock at the revelations.
An indictment was filed on Sunday against three caregivers from the "Luchik" daycare center in Ariel, accused of over 400 instances of abuse against 17 infants and toddlers aged six months to three years. The prosecution alleges that the daycare director, Natalia Kasilevsky, 37, and caregivers Darina Khalova, 37, and Anna Bagalsky, 40, employed harsh disciplinary methods including suffocation, restraint, and confinement. Prosecutors have requested their detention until the legal proceedings conclude.
The courtroom witnessed chaos as parents of the children rushed towards the defendants, shouting insults amidst intense crying and emotional distress. According to the indictment, the accused used various punitive techniques, such as suffocating children by grasping their heads and blocking airways with hands, paper, or cloth, while immobilizing their necks. They are also accused of forcefully shaking children, bending their heads and bodies forward, and pressing them down onto mats for extended periods. In some cases, suffocation was repeated despite the children showing signs of distress, such as red faces and gasping for air, leading to confusion and loss of balance.
The indictment further details the use of physical restraint and forced feeding. The children were tightly wrapped in fabrics and blankets, with their limbs secured to their bodies, preventing movement, before being placed on their stomachs. In other instances, Khalova and Bagalsky forcibly fed restrained children by tilting their heads back, prying open their mouths, and rapidly stuffing them with pureed food, while also violently wiping their faces with paper.
Rotem, the mother of one of the children, expressed her shock at the revelations in an interview with Kan, stating she had not noticed any signs of abuse at the time. While unsure of the specific harm her son sustained, she is certain he was affected. She also noted that the police have not yet shown parents any video footage documenting the abuse.
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