Catholic Nuns Arrested For Torturing 60 Children At Orphanage
The orphanage home that has been nicknamed a 'Hellhouse'
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Two Catholic nuns have been arrested In Columbia after torturing at least 60 children at an orphanage that has been nicknamed a 'Hellhouse' by the local media and witnesses.
Sor Ines Perez and Rosa Elivra Trochez Joagui were in charge of the Santa Clara Rebirth Home in the southwest Colombian city of Popayan.
Children in their care had their skin burned and had their heads shoved down toilets as part of a sadistic form of ongoing punishment the nuns practiced on a daily basis.
Neighbors heard the children's screams
Authorities launched the investigation following reports of children screaming from local neighbors according to El Tiempo
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Both of the nuns have denied the charges of torture and child abuse between the dates of 2014 and 2017.
Many children have now been relocated to other welfare sites according to the country's Office of Attorney General.
The nun's organization had already been closed in the past but was allowed to reopen so they could continue their horrific campaign of child abuse.
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According to Newsweek: In a statement to the paper, Perez said conditions at the home were exacerbated by the inadequate resources provided by the Colombian Institute of Family Well-Being (ICBF), a public youth welfare agency.
The ICBF did not immediately return Newsweek's request for comment.
There are approximately 260,000 people living in overwhelmingly Catholic Popayan, the capital of the department of Cauca.
The Colombian Evangelical Council has said 85 percent of the region follows the teachings of Catholicism, while the Catholic Bishops’ Conference has put the number a smidge higher at 90 percent.
It’s unclear how many children each year are abused in Colombia.
Combating the multiple sources of violence in the country is a formidable obstacle for child welfare organizations, according to UNICEF.
“The biggest challenge that Colombia faces is that of violence,” according to Paul Martin, the UNICEF representative in Colombia.
“Domestic violence, violence at school, street violence. It is a country completely traumatized by violence.”
