Pupils share details of life at boarding school in Ninotsminda

Four brothers told about their life at the Saint Nino boarding school for orphans in Ninotsminda. According to two of them, pupils were beaten up by both educators and older pupils; they were deprived of lunch and sleep. However, other brothers have refuted this information. In Tbilisi, an action was held in support of the head of the boarding school, Father Spiridon, whose participants demanded the dismissal of the Georgian Ombudsperson.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that for almost a year, employees of the Georgian Ombudsperson's Office could not get into the above boarding school belonging to the Georgian Orthodox Church; the Archbishop of Shalta did not let social workers there either. On June 3, Nino Lomdjariya, the Georgian Ombudsperson, reported that since 2016, three criminal cases have been opened on violence in this school, and one case – on an alleged rape.As of the evening of June 6, employees of the state agency for regulating medical activities had taken 20 pupils out of the above boarding school.

Nino Lomdjariya, the Georgian Ombudsperson, stated on June 7 that she had met six pupils transferred from the boarding school, who confirmed that physical and psychological abuse was used against children aged from 4 to 10 years. "As a punishment, children were deprived of lunch, beaten up with hands, sticks or other objects, and were not allowed to sleep for several nights in a row," Ms Lomdjariya said on air of "Mtavari Arkhi" TV Channel.

Among the pupils of the boarding school there were four brothers from one large family. Two of them claim that violence was used against them; the two others deny this. One of the brothers said that violence was used not only by educators, but also by older pupils.

"I was punished for hooliganism of the pupil for whom I was responsible. Instead, they punished me ... To prevent our screams from being heard, they closed the windows," the pupil said on air of the TV company.

On June 7, Levan Vasadze, an Orthodox activist, and his associates staged an action in support of Father Spiridon and demanding resignation of Nino Lomdjariya, the Ombudsperson. "We demand the resignation of Nino Lomdjariya, and that the person to be appointed in her place, show respect, humility and honour for the traditions of our country," Mr Vasadze stated on air of the "Rustavi-2" TV Company.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 8, 2021 at 03:21 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.