Details of shocking abuse emerge
A On Tuesday, June 17, the trial of six people accused of torturing two
boys, Ondřej, age 8, and Jakub, 10, began in Brno. Among the accused in one of
the most complicated cases of child abuse in Czech history are the boys’
mother, Klára Mauerová, and their aunt Kateřina Mauerová. Four of their friends
also participated in the abuse: Barbora Škrlová (She made a series of headlines
for impersonating children.), her
brother Jan, Hana Bašová and Jan Turek.
B As the prosecution read its opening statement depicting the details of the abuse; those filling the courtroom
were shocked by the details of the case. “This is one of the worst cases I have
seen in my life,” said Prague
child psychiatrist Jan Nejezchleba in a phone interview later. “The boys are
likely to be scarred for the rest of their lives and be in constant need of
psychiatric attention.”
C The accused are members of a Brno
religious sect headed by Barbora Škrlová’s father, Josef Škrla. The sect loosely followed the teachings of the
Grail Movement, a group founded in Germany in the late 1940s. The Brno sect was apparently
attempting to have Škrlová “reborn” with a new identity as a 13-year-old named
Anička, who would be adopted by Klára Mauerová. However, when Mauerová’s two
sons did not get along with their new sister, they had to be “re-educated,” and
the abuse began.
D During the trial, Mauerová
claimed that she was simply following orders. “I was controlled through text
messages and e-mails sent by an Azerbaijani doctor called Andrej Zejnalov. He
gave me advice on how to bring up my boys properly,” she said according to a
court transcript. However, Interpol failed to locate the mysterious doctor.
Authorities believe that he is likely a persona of the sect leader Škrla, who
is currently being sought by police and thought to be in hiding abroad.
E The boys are believed to have been tortured for a year. Starting in the
summer 2006, Mauerová, who lived with her two sons in a Brno flat, beat Ondřej and Jakub on a daily basis
using various objects including a metal belt buckle. She also locked them in
closets in order to prevent them from seeking help from the outside. The worst
episode of torture is believed to have taken place in August 2006, when the
boys were told they were going to a “correctional facility.” At a borrowed
house in Veverská Bítýška near Brno,
Mauerová and her sister kept the boys in dog kennels. “Mommy would come and
burn me with cigarettes as I was in the cage,” said Ondřej in a statement read by the judge. “There was
no toilet so I wet my pants. Then she punished me for that. I was given clean clothes
three days later.”
impersonating – vydávající
se za
loosely – volně
statement – výpověď
to depict – líčit
trial – přelíčení
1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.
1 Brno religious sect
2 One of the most
complicated cases
3 Torture of the boys
4 Mauerová allegedly
followed orders
5 The accused
2) Read the article again and answer the questions.
1 What is the article about?
2 What do you know about
Ondřej and Jakub?
3 Who is Barbora Škrlová?
What does she say?
4 How did the accused abuse
the children?
5 What does the
psychiatrist think about the consequences of the teasing?
3) Explain the following words.
1 to torture
2 prosecution
3 scarred
4 the accused
5 sect leader
4) Answer the questions:
What is child abuse? What
are types of child abuse? What is a post-traumatic stress disorder?
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