The parents of a baby who died in 2022 at the ’t Sloeberhuisje nursery in Mariakerke, near Ghent, were absent from court on Thursday as the trial opened of Roxan V., who is accused of fatally shaking the infant.
Instead, their lawyer read a letter on their behalf. In it, the parents said they were unable to attend because it was “emotionally too difficult.”
“We do not know what our daughter felt, but we imagine she experienced fear, pain and helplessness,” they wrote. They added that what happened at ’t Sloeberhuisje “should never have happened.”
The parents also questioned why no action had been taken despite earlier complaints and serious concerns about children’s safety at the nursery. “Why?” they asked in the letter.
They described the lasting impact of their daughter’s death on their family. They said they now live in constant fear of losing another child and worry if their children sleep too deeply that they may not wake up again.
“Our daughter had the right to safety and to a future, but that was taken away from her,” the letter said.
Lawyers for the civil parties also pointed to the responsibility of the nursery operator, her father and the Flemish childcare agency Opgroeien.
The parents’ lawyer told the court that the main defendant’s guilt had been established. He said Roxan V. had shaken the child “very violently,” consciously and deliberately, and argued that it was “particularly serious” that the defendant continued to downplay the force used.
Earlier in the day, prosecutors requested a seven-year prison sentence for Roxan V., along with a period of supervision by the Sentence Enforcement Court after release.
They also called for a two-year prison sentence for nursery manager Davina V. and a fine for the Flemish agency Opgroeien, with the amount to be determined by the Ghent Criminal Court.
