Tuesday evening, at the end of the 2nd day of hearing, Sandrine Pissarra acknowledged with a small “yes”, the violence committed over six years against her daughter who died of starvation on August 6, 2020. Then, with a “yes , I admit”, she admits the humiliations, the tortures and having confined and starved her. Confessions, head lowered, voice frail, then a tear.
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It was necessary to wait until the very end of the second day of the trial, at the Assises de l’Hérault, for Sandrine Pissarra, 54, to break her silence and, in two sentences of four words in total, admit her guilt in the death of his daughter Amandine.
A 13-year-old girl, died of starvation on August 6, 2020, of cardiac arrest, at the family home in Montblanc, near Béziers, in Hérault.
Beatings, food deprivation, humiliation, torture, accused of having starved Amandine to death, her mother admitted the facts for the first time on Tuesday evening. “Family totalitarianism” summed up the president of the Assize Court.
The schoolgirl weighed only 28 kg and was 1.55 m tall when she died, a victim of “acts of torture or barbarity” for which her mother has been on trial since Monday, along with her stepfather.
Facts that the accused has finally admitted, after having denied for four years, and for which she faces life imprisonment. A difficult moment that gripped the courtroom with fear.
Sandrine was finally able to put words to the unspeakable facts with which she is accused. The recording must have created an emotion in her. Even if her silences and her attitude from the beginning were the translation that she could not express the facts.
Louis Dolez, lawyer for Sandrine Pissarra, mother of Amandine
Before suspending the hearing Tuesday evening, the president of the court, Eric Emmanuelidis, broadcast an audio recording, made in 2019 by neighbors. We can hear the voice of Sandrine Pissarra and the cries, tears and sobs of Amandine, then 12 years old. “Ouch, ouch, stop, not that, I’m hurting…”begs the young victim, calling her mother “Madame”.
“Madam, do you recognize the violence committed against Amandine between 2014 and March 17, 2020”date of the start of confinement due to Covid, asks the magistrate. “Oui”responds weakly the mother who had eight children.
“As well as the acts of torture and barbarity committed between March 17 and August, in particular the humiliations of having confined her in a room for weeks, of having starved her?”he continues. “Yes, I admit”replies Sandrine Pissarra, without giving any explanations.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you cry.”notes the magistrate.
-This is the virtue of trials, to bring awareness and bring out the truth. We have made progress, we must continue, seek to understand… and learn lessons from this entire drama by finding a fair sanction.
Jean-Marc Darrigade, lawyer for Sandrine Pissarra
At the same time, his companion, Jean-Michel Cros, 49, who faces 30 years of imprisonment for having “deprived care or food” of his daughter-in-law, also recognizes the facts. “I have enormous guilt over this”he admits.
Montpellier – Sandrine Pissarra, 54 years old, in the dock at the Assises de l’Hérault with her companion. Amandine’s mother admits to the beatings, acts of cruelty, barbarity and torture on her 13-year-old daughter when she died of starvation – January 2025.
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© Cathy Horn
This Wednesday, January 22, Amandine’s father was heard as a witness before the Assize Court.
READ ALSO – TESTIMONY. Amandine’s father, “haunted” by the ordeal suffered by his daughter, who died of starvation at 13 years old.
Frédéric is devastated by the guilt of not having known or been able to act in time. He did not have custody of Amandine and, like his two other children, he had not seen her since 2018.
“It’s a scary scene, I didn’t recognize it right away,” says Amandine’s father. He remembers this day in 2020 when he discovered his daughter’s body. Then, he adds in a sob: “his face was skeletal and covered in bruises.”
The father of Amandine, a 13-year-old girl who died of starvation by her mother and stepfather in 2020 in Hérault, testifies.
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© FTV
The court is trying to find out if he did what was necessary to get his daughter back and if he could have prevented the torture and tragic death of Amandine.
Amandine’s father is there for the truth, even if it is very hard to hear. He wants his daughter’s memory to be respected and for her mother and stepfather to be able to tell us what they did to her until the end.
Florian Médico, lawyer for Frédéric Florès, father of Amandine
This afternoon, the couple’s two other children will be called to the stand.
The verdict is expected on Friday at the latest.
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