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Police rescued 14 siblings, including a baby, from a “house of horrors” where they were allegedly tortured, beaten and fed pet food by their parents.
The children were removed from a suburban Sydney home after the two eldest girls, aged in their late teens, secretly recorded the alleged abuse and emailed their school demanding a child check. welfare.
The two police officers, who were first on the scene, described the conditions as “atrocious” after seeing the children’s skinny bodies hidden by ill-fitting and dirty clothing.
Police say the siblings, boys and girls aged between seven months and 19 years old, were not allowed to go to school and were locked inside the house.
They also claim that parents whipped and abused their children if they spoke inappropriately or did not do their chores.
Fourteen children – boys and girls aged between seven months and 19 years – from their Sydney home after the two eldest girls recorded their parents’ alleged abuse.
The 18-year-old said her parents locked her out because she became too curious and asked too many questions.
“We were not allowed to speak without permission. No friends, no Internet access. No clothes, no work, no life, no studies,” she told Today’s telegraph.
Older girls were entrusted with children to care for every day, as well as daily household chores and religious studies.
Their mother, who converted to Islam as an adult, would then report the children’s “bad” behavior to her husband when she returned home.
Based on the mother’s report, the father would then punish the “naughty” children by hitting them.
One of the girls claimed that her father bought her a pet cat only to torture it in front of her as punishment.
“It’s something that really touched me. I loved cats, so he would beat them, then make me parade dead cats,” she said.
Another sister claimed she was emotionally abused by her parents and always sought their approval.
She explained that one day, while she was cooking and baking all day for ten men who came to the house, her father was angry about the dust on the cupboard.
The teenager said she tried her best to make her father happy so she could “stop the bad things”.
The children were allegedly fed “animal-grade” meat, whipped, beaten and prevented from leaving the house. They were also reportedly prevented from going to school and having access to phones, books and social media, with only the two oldest allowed to leave the house to pray.
Both men took action after seeing their younger brother suffering mentally, fearing the alleged abuse would cause irreversible damage to his mental health or drive him to suicide.
Using their iPads in secret, the sisters collected information from the Internet about child abuse, assault and what was legally acceptable for a parent.
They also took photos of the alleged abuse, particularly of their younger siblings who were allegedly whipped.
When one of the children was allegedly assaulted, one of the older sisters emailed the school asking for welfare support.
A seasoned detective was tasked with having his team enter the home and assess the children’s well-being.
While waiting for the father to leave, his agents entered the house and approached each child old enough to speak.
“We were a little worried because once we were there, if they didn’t say anything, then yeah, of course, we were worried about when dad was coming back, what was he going to do,” said the officer. “It was quite stressful.”
Officers received “a lot of information” from the children and were able to gather additional evidence that led to additional charges against the parents.
A police officer explained that the children had “nothing to save” from the house, as they did not even have essentials like sheets, pillows or blankets.
The older sister said she was scared but had “a good feeling” when she saw police entering her home.
She remembers comforting her sister after she started crying when police handcuffed and took their mother away.
One of the girls said making a statement to police was the “best part” because it gave her the freedom to tell the truth in a safe environment.
“Giving a statement to the police was probably the best part of the whole thing…I know it sounds strange to say, you know, giving statements to the police was like a fun thing. But it was,” she said.
One of the police officers who was first on the scene and who is still in contact with the family was tasked with letting the children know that their parents would not be coming home.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb (pictured) said she was proud of the dedication and compassion of the first two responding officers and their continued care of the family.
The officers had to teach the children how to do basic errands, including running errands and even teaching money lessons.
Detectives worked hard to keep the family together, with older siblings insisting on looking after the younger ones.
“It’s such an unusual case, so there are definitely some bumps along the way,” the senior officer said.
“The girls know what they have taken on is a huge responsibility, but they were up for the challenge if it meant keeping their family together.”
A few months after their rescue, the children were all enrolled in an appropriate school and had everything necessary for their education.
The older girls look after their 12 other siblings, run household errands and take their siblings to school and to all their medical appointments.
Police said both men had taken responsibility for their parents and would like to see a possible “respite” for them so they too could have “lives of their own”.
“We would love to see them get some respite, perhaps a nanny to help them while they study and focus on their own goals and dreams,” the officers said.
“But they are not complaining, they are extraordinary young women and we would do anything to support them.”
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said she was proud of the dedication and compassion of the two first responding officers and their continued care of the family.
The children’s mother and father are in court.
What police found inside Sydney ‘house of horrors’ where children were ‘tortured and fed pet food’