Accounts of the conditions that, according to what Stylianos Konstantinou himself confided to his teachers, he allegedly experienced in his family environment, were heard on Monday before the Nicosia District Court, as the trial regarding the death of the 14-year-old in September 2019 continued.
“He was the only child who would get upset as school let out. A child who doesn’t want to go home is telling us something,” said witness A.T., who served as a special education liaison at Agia Varvara Elementary School, where Stylianos was a student.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The witness described before the Court a child who, according to information received by the school, was alleged to have suffered physical and psychological abuse, while she also referred to incidents of beatings, reports of animal abuse in his presence, and the school’s repeated efforts to secure support for the child.
“She would hit him on the soles of his feet so there wouldn’t be any marks.”
Particularly serious was the witness’s account of an incident relayed to her by the child’s speech therapist.
According to the information she had received, Stylianos had come to speech therapy and reported that he was in pain and could not sit down.
As she testified, the child had told the speech therapist that his father had beaten him with a “belt” the previous night, and according to the same report, he bore marks from the beating.
The witness stated that Stylianos confided in his teachers, his speech therapist, and his aide.
According to her testimony, the child had reported that his father would hit his mother in the stomach when she was pregnant, make him work at the scrapyard, and strangle lambs in his presence.
Her handwritten notes, which were submitted to the court, also included a report that the father would hit Stylianos on the soles of his feet so as not to leave any marks.
The witness clarified that she had received this specific information from the child’s teacher.
School as a Refuge
The witness also referred to an incident in May 2013, when, as she testified, she was informed by the school’s principal at the time that Stylianos had been beaten by his father and had run away from home.
As she said, she contacted Social Welfare Services (YKE), and a social worker arrived at the school about half an hour later. Subsequently, the social worker and the child’s mother went to the local police station, where a written complaint was filed against the father.
Stylianos stayed away from home all night and returned to school on his own the next morning; according to the witness, this was the only place where he felt safe.
“That was also the first time I felt that the obvious was being done,” she said, explaining that she sent a thank-you letter to the head of the YKE staff member in charge regarding the handling of the incident. She added that she believed such immediate intervention should have taken place in previous cases as well.
She portrayed him as a mythomaniac
According to the witness, the mother denied Stylianos’s reports of violent incidents and claimed that conditions at home had improved.
A handwritten record of a meeting on October 17 noted that Stylianos had said he preferred the days when he went to school. In the same transcript, the mother reportedly claimed that her husband did not hit her, did not kick her in the stomach, and had not strangled lambs.
The witness stated that the mother called Stylianos a “mythomaniac,” while, according to her notes, during a conversation with the mother, it had been pointed out that her attitude resulted in the child being portrayed as a mythomaniac.
As she testified, the mother told those involved that they were trying to break up her family, while she did not wish to report her husband, as she feared the consequences for herself and her children.
The witness also referred to efforts to persuade the mother to leave her husband with the children, noting that she herself did not agree, as she believed she would not be able to cope with the difficulties she would face.
Mother’s Refusal of Psychological Support for the Child
During the testimony, reference was also made to efforts to secure psychological support for Stylianos. According to the witness, while the mother had initially been persuaded to take him to a clinical child psychologist, during a subsequent multidisciplinary meeting on December 3, it was noted that she refused to take him to a child psychiatrist.
The witness further stated that in November 2014, it was determined that the child still needed psychological support, which the mother was not providing. According to what the mother herself had told her, the family was facing financial difficulties and did not even have enough money for gas to drive Stylianos to the psychologist.
A.T. stated that she was in regular contact with the school to stay informed about the child’s situation, however, as she said, she did not observe any substantial change, attributing the situation to the parents’ attitude.
Complaints about the response from the Child Protection Services
The witness also expressed complaints about the conduct of the YKE official, F.K., the third defendant in the case, noting that she had difficulty communicating with her and that she often received a response only after several days.
As she testified, when she informed the officer of an incident involving Stylianos, the officer replied, “I’ll see what I can do,” and, as she said, the response was not immediate.
When asked by the prosecution whether she had any complaints about the officer’s handling of the situation, she replied: “Yes. She didn’t do what I felt she should have done for this child.”
She added that when she tried to reach her by phone, she often could not reach her, and that on several occasions the caseworker would call her back days later, expressing concern that it might already be too late.
“Our role was to help him overcome his learning difficulties”
The witness stated that the school’s role was primarily to help address Stylianos’s learning difficulties; however, the information that reached the teachers, as she said, highlighted the need for broader intervention to protect and support him.
During the proceedings, a bundle of documents was submitted containing the witness’s handwritten notes, which documented reports on the child’s behavior, family circumstances, difficulties in cooperating with the parents, and contacts with the relevant agencies.
The hearing will resume on November 4, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.
Source: CNA
