Greece: Three prosecuted for infanticide, one mother faces justice

A 34-year-old woman on trial for killing her three daughters over three years began Monday’s trial in Athens, a The case sparked outrage in GreeceAccording to experts, the mother of the family is holy.

Roula Pispirigou faces charges of “premeditated attempted murder” and “premeditated premeditated murder” of her eldest daughter before the Athens Assizes Court in pre-trial detention at a high-security prison. On January 29, 2022, she was accused of poisoning Georgina, 9, by injecting her with ketamine, which is mainly used as an anesthetic and pain reliever in veterinary surgery.

Since last August, the young woman has been prosecuted for the murder of her other two daughters, Malena, 3 and a half years old, in 2019 and Iris, 6 months old, in 2021, but this separate procedure was launched later. Georgina’s death is still under investigation. His lawyer, Alexis Gougias, is expected to request that the two files be merged at the start of Monday’s hearing and postpone the hearing, a judicial source said.

At the time of her death, Georgina was in hospital, where she had stayed several times since seizures left her on all fours in April 2021. The prosecution alleged that the mother had already tried to kill her child. A second child, Malena, was initially declared dead of liver failure and Iris of a heart attack, but new forensic reports after Georgina’s suspicious death suggested she died of asphyxiation.

Ms Pispriko, a nurse by training, nicknamed the “modern-day Medea” or “Medea of ​​Patras” by Greek media, has maintained her innocence since her arrest in March 2022, from the city in western Greece.

These three infanticides, in a country where this crime is extremely rare, opened up outrage and great media attention. Last April, the Greek government had to call for “calm” in the face of calls for murder against Roula Pispirigou and urged people to let investigators do their work.

Shortly after his arrest, the accused was escorted by heavily armed and helmeted police officers in bulletproof vests during a chaotic visit to an Athens court. Riot police were also called in as the roaring crowd jeered her with chants of “Murderer, confess your guilt”.

Among the demonstrators, a woman vowed on television: “If she really did it, she should be hanged. That’s it!” On the front of his house in Patras, as an angry crowd gathered, unknown persons wrote “Death to child killers”.

These popular explosions are partly explained by the status of mothers in Greece, although patriarchy remains one of the hallmarks of Greek culture, despite developments in recent years. “We are (specifically) harsh on infanticide mothers because we are with representations and ideals around motherhood,” assures AFP psychologist and psychiatrist Sophie Marinopoulos, an expert on infanticide mothers.

“A mother should sacrifice herself for her children and not her children. In Mediterranean countries, it is very strong,” he adds. “People cannot forgive the fact that, according to the prosecutor, he killed not one, but three children at different times,” says Efi Lambropoulou, professor of criminology at Athens’ Pantheon University.

Private television stations also stand out as they do not hesitate to interrogate the accused over the phone from jail. The father of the girls, but also the mother of Rula Bisbrigo, have given testimony to the media. Televisions “focus on the emotions of the audience above all else,” Ms Lambropoulou explains. “This information was discovered later, exaggerated, on social networks with little control”, lamented the expert.

Roula Pispirigou, long bleached blond hair, according to Effi Lambropoulou, contributed to this storm before her arrest by “calling” television shows or “interviewing her husband”.