A woman in France has received a life sentence for starving her 13-year-old daughter to death simply because she resembled her father. According to People, Sandrine Pissarra was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 20 years in a French court on Friday for the death of her daughter Amandine in August 2020. The 13-year-old weighed just 28 kg when she died. Her face was swollen with several lost teeth, she was covered in infected wounds and her hair was pulled, as per medical report.
At the time of her death, Amandine suffered from extreme weight and muscle loss as well as septicaemia, a life-threatening infection that occurs when bacteria enter the bloodstream. She had been locked for weeks in a windowless storage room and deprived of food, the outlet reported.
Amandine’s mother, Sandrine Pissarra, subjected her daughter to this horrifying treatment for a decade, a French court was told. She was assaulted with punches, kicks and brooms, along with hair pulling, insult and jostling. Investigators stated that there was “no doubt” her mother violently abused the 13-year-old for the “sole purpose” of “humiliating agony.” She reportedly endured food deprivation, “writing punishments” and was locked in a storage room under camera surveillance.
On the day of her death, Pissarra, 54, reportedly said that her daughter had an eating disorder and swallowed a piece of sugar, some fruit puree and a high-protein drink before she began vomiting and stopped breathing. However later, Pissarra admitted in court to abusing her daughter “because she looked like her father”.
A psychiatric assessment determined Pissarra as angry and violent while looking to “transfer her hatred” of Amandine’s father to her daughter.
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The mother, who had been running a nail salon, has eight children from three relationships as per Metro. The 54-year-old was prosecuted for inflicting acts of torture and barbarity on her teen daughter. She has been in custody since May 2021.
Her former partner, Jean-Michel Cros, was sentenced to 20 years in prison with no possibility of parole for Amandine’s suffering in his joint care.
In her final statement, Pissarra called herself a “monstrous mother”. “I want to apologize to my children, that’s all,” she said.