The entrance to the daycare "Gardereve " in Jdeideh, in Metn, July 11, 2023. (Credit: Houssam Chbaro/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — The owner of a daycare in Jdeideh, along with a nurse and an employee, appeared in Mount Lebanon Criminal Court on Tuesday on charges of violence against infants and babies under their care.
The session, presided over by Judge Rabih Houssami, was devoted to the defendant’s pleas. The Mount Lebanon Indictment Chamber summoned the three women from Gardereve Day Nursery on Oct. 26 and referred their case to the criminal court. Following Tuesday’s hearing, a new one was set for June 5.
The nurse is charged with attempted intentional homicide and faces a sentence of up to 15 to 20 years' imprisonment. Videos posted on social networks show her hitting one child on the head and forcing another to eat, nearly strangling him.
The owner of the nursery is suspected of complicity, while the employee, a housekeeper, is likely to be sentenced for failure to assist a person in danger. It was the latter who filmed the violent scenes, without intervening. She shared the videos several months later and only did so as an act of revenge against the landlady, who had threatened to fire her.