Now the father of the family, in his 50s, has been sentenced to prison for one year and eight months. He himself denied all the accusations. In court, he said that he had done everything for the family to be well in Norway after they came here as refugees from the Middle East in 2015. The eldest daughter has been sick since she was little and has seen things that are not right, he claimed . The Inner and Eastern Finnmark District Court thinks otherwise: The girls have explained themselves in a very credible way, and have not had the opportunity to coordinate their explanations, the judgment says. The indictment concerns conditions from 2016 until the police and child protection took action in January 2021. “The court has no doubt that the conditions taken together clearly form a pattern, where all these children have lived under a regime characterized by continuous insecurity and fear for violence”, says the verdict, which was handed down on Friday. Beating, kicking and locking in. A total of 39 witnesses gave evidence in the very comprehensive case, which took place over four weeks in East Finnmark district court in the new year. The eldest daughter was 17 when the case was reported. Her sisters were between 6 and 12 years old. – There are a lot of different things he hits with. With the hand, with the foot, with many things. He pulls his hair, the elder explained in an early interrogation, reproduced in the judgment. The court in Vadsø spent four weeks hearing 39 witnesses in the extensive family violence case. Photo: Knut-Sverre Horn / news She showed how her father hit her face, head, upper arms, back, stomach and feet with a flat hand. She said her father began beating her while they were on the run, and since continued regularly. When asked how often the little sisters got knocked, she said. – It happens almost every night, actually. The parents had not learned to look after children and show love, she believed. – Mostly it’s that they think about honor and things like that. Attempted rape dismissed In the first questioning, she said that her father and two brothers had committed sexual violence against her, but that she was unable to talk about it. In later questioning, she spoke more concretely, including in detail about an attempted rape by her father. These are cases for which the prosecution believed there was insufficient evidence, and which were therefore dismissed. The arranged interviews with the girls were also about the alleged abuse by the brothers and their father. Therefore, parts of the interviews were refused to be played in court. Prosecutor Line Skjengen was nevertheless upheld in his claim for one year and eight months in prison. Defense attorney Jens Bernhard Herstad is appealing the verdict on behalf of the client, who maintains that he is innocent. Photo: Kristina Kalinina / news Compensation for all The District Court states that the girls are strongly affected by what they have been through. “All the children referred to in the indictment are exposed to acts of violence and other violations and have lived almost their entire lives under severe fear and stress,” it says. Two of them have gone to treatment and have struggled with suicidal thoughts. The girls have been awarded compensation of a total of NOK 660,000, with NOK 150,000 for the eldest. The father of the family has also been banned from contacting the eldest daughter for five years. The man has always maintained that he is innocent. In line with that, the verdict is being appealed, says his defender Jens Bernhard Herstad to iFinnmark. See Brennpunkt on the culture of honour: “Nora” is afraid her parents have tracked her down, and must escape from Oslo. At Stovner, the forced marriage case is settled.
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Convicted of mistreatment of six daughters over five years – news Troms and Finnmark
