France: a mother tried for starving her daughter to death

Hungry for months, Amandine only weighed 28 kg and 1.55 m tall on the day of her death, in August 2020, at the age of 13. Tried for “acts of torture” from Monday in Montpellier, his mother faces life imprisonment.

“There is no doubt that Amandine endured destructive and paroxysmal violence from Sandrine Pissarra, the sole purpose of which was the desire to drag her into shameful and humiliating agony,” according to the investigating judge in charge. of the file, in his investigation report.

Referral to the Hérault Assize Court, for “acts of torture or barbarity leading to death without intention of causing it” – in this case, of having notably “starved” her – between the start of the first confinement , on March 17, 2020, and the death of her daughter, on August 6 of the same year, Sandrine Pissarra, 54, faces life imprisonment. A former waitress, mother of eight children born from three unions, she must also answer for intentional violence against Amandine over the previous six years. The verdict is expected on Friday.

“Violent, manipulative and a liar”, according to her ex-companions, accused of abuse by several of her other children, the fifty-year-old has always denied the facts, even describing herself as a “loving” mother in the face of a “thief” and “thieving” teenager. capricious. In a relationship with her since 2016 and judged alongside her, Jean-Michel Cros, 49, risks 30 years in prison for having “deprived his daughter-in-law of care or food” and having done nothing for her. save from certain death,” according to the indictment order consulted by AFP.

In this document, two photos illustrate the martyrdom of the young girl. On the first, dating from her return to third grade, in September 2019, Amandine, with a small smile, has long black hair and seems of a normal build. In the second, on the day of her death, she presents the impressive marks of serious malnutrition: sunken eye sockets, prominent cheekbones and sunken cheeks. She “must have been the victim of serious neglect on the part of her family environment to reach such a level of weight loss,” noted the forensic doctor.

Called to intervene on August 6, 2020 in the family home, in the village of Montblanc (Hérault), the Pézenas gendarmes were also struck by her extreme thinness and by the traces of blows she had on her face. Overheard the next day, her mother explained that Amandine suffered from eating disorders, which no one confirmed, and the day before she only agreed to swallow a cube of sugar, a little compote and a hyper-drink. protein, before starting to vomit and then stopping breathing. According to a double autopsy report, his death was due to a “heart rhythm disorder” secondary to a state of extreme weight loss associated with septicemia and “a possible syndrome of inappropriate renutrition”.

Arrested and indicted nine months later, Amandine’s mother and her partner have been in pre-trial detention ever since. The investigation revealed that Amandine had always been her mother’s victim, who notably deprived her of food, inflicted endless “writing punishments” on her and locked her in a storage room, under surveillance by cameras. .

According to the psychiatric expertise, Sandrine Pissarra was able to “transpose her hatred” of Amandine’s father onto the body of her daughter. With confinement, the schoolgirl had stopped going to school and the violence and deprivation had increased, without safeguards or limits.

Amandine’s father, her brother and her sister have filed civil suits, as have four associations, including “L’Enfant Bleu – Enfance Maltraitée”, which intends to “question the flaws in the child protection system”. In fact, several reports and three referrals to the children’s judge had not resulted in any measure that could have put Amandine out of danger.

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