Unbelievable

First some really good news: my friends just had their first child, a healthy baby-boy (though about four weeks early)! That is wonderful and made me so happy.

Maybe that’s why these news hurt even more: the place is a courthouse in Hamburg, Germany. Today started the criminal proceedings against a couple who starved their child to death. And no-one noticed. The couple lived in an apartment building. Their only daughter (another child had been given up for adoption) lead a life worse than most prisoners. She was confined to her room, the door locked, the window darkened so no sunshine could enter. Her bed was a blanket on top of the bedsprings. No pictures, no other furniture, presumably no toys. And no food. She died at the age of seven, her weight: 9 kg. Nobody knows if she ever learned to speak or to walk. Nobody knows for how long this has been going on.
Her parents lived a “normal life”, hanging out in the pub and caring for their well-fed cat...

Can you imagine? It makes me so mad I feel like destroying something (don’t worry, I won’t) and so sad, I just want to cry.