Varese, they beat, starved and punished patients with disabilities: 7 arrested in Busto Arsizio

Varese, from the early hours of the morning of Tuesday 13 April 2021, in the Provinces of Varese, Milano and Monza, the Carabinieri of the Busto Arsizio Company (VA), with the support of the territorially competent commands, have implemented an order applying precautionary measures issued by the investigating judge of the Court of Milano, at the request of the local Public Prosecutor's Office, against 7 people (2 to be subjected to house arrest, 2 to the obligation to stay and 3 temporary suspensions of the activity of community educator and social welfare auxiliary for 6 months), all managers and operators of a residence for disabled people in the upper Milan area, considered seriously suspected, in collaboration with each other, of the crime of continuous aggravated mistreatment (articles 81 paragraph, 110, 572 co. 1 and 2 penal code, articles 40 paragraph and 61 nr. 9 penal code) and, for only six of them, also of the crime of abusive exercise of a profession (articles 81 para., 110, 348 and 61 no. 5 penal code).
The investigations, which also made use of telephone interceptions and environmental audio video, started at the beginning of February by the Carabinieri station of Castellanza (VA) following a complaint presented by a social health worker employed on a fixed-term basis by the aforementioned non-profit organization, have made it possible to document that the suspects with diversified responsibilities ranging from the year 2017 to today have:
repeatedly mistreated nine adult guests suffering from proven psychiatric disabilities, subjecting them to daily harassment and violence, consisting of repeated insults, shouting, beatings and pulling, throwing objects and cold water, failure to serve meals, as well as subjecting them to multiple physical and psychological punishments to the point of mocking them for their disabilities, as well as employing them in tasks that are not their responsibility, such as carrying out sanitation operations of the premises (in this regard, the absence of stipulation of a formal contract with companies in the sector for the cleaning of the premises was ascertained relevance of the residence);
in the absence of the required professional qualifications, administered drugs to community guests which, although the subject of the prescribed health therapy, were, on some occasions, arbitrarily modified.
In particular, according to what was reconstructed by the Carabinieri, frequently, if they did not follow the orders given correctly, the victims were punished with practices considered "educational": if they did not eat in a composed posture they were forced to remain seated with their backs in an upright position. , using a stick inserted into the belt and tied to the head with a band, despite complaining of physical pain; if in the morning the guests of the facility did not get out of bed promptly, cold water was thrown on them to wake them up and they were left with their clothes wet for hours; furthermore they were forced to replace lunch with breakfast or to skip meals completely, remaining seated at the table and observing others while they ate.
The Carabinieri, with the help of the Legnano ATS, also took steps to relocate all the victims to a suitable structure, where they will receive adequate assistance and the necessary treatment.