Mom Who Starved Her 13-Year-Old Daughter to Death Because ‘She Looked Like Her Father’ Is Sentenced to Life in Prison
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A French mother has received a life sentence after starving her 13-year-old daughter to death, according to reports.
Sandrine Pissarra was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 20 years in a French court on Friday, Jan. 24, for the death of her daughter Amandine in August 2020, the U.K. newspaper Metro, France 24 and Le Monde reported.
Amandine weighed just 28 kg (62 lbs) at five feet and one inch tall when she died on Aug. 6, 2020. Her face was swollen with several lost teeth, she was covered in infected wounds and her hair was pulled out, according to a medical report obtained by the outlets.
Amandine died in the village of Montblanc, southwest of Montpellier, according to the reports. She suffered extreme weight and muscle loss and septicemia after being locked in a storage room and deprived of food for weeks at a time.
On the day of her death, Pissarra, 54, claimed her daughter had eating disorders and swallowed a piece of sugar, some fruit puree and a high-protein drink before she began vomiting and stopped breathing, per France 24.
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The mother-of-eight admitted in court to abusing her daughter “because she looked like her father,” as she called herself “a monstrous mother,” per Metro.
Pissarra was prosecuted for inflicting acts of torture and barbarity on her teen daughter, per multiple reports. She had been in custody since May 2021.
Her former partner, Jean-Michel Cros, was sentenced to 20 years in prison with no possibility of parole for Amandine’s suffering in his joint care, France 24 reported.
Amandine was reportedly abused by her mother for a decade. She was assaulted with punches, kicks and brooms, along with hair pulling, insult and jostling, the court heard on Jan. 24, according to Metro.
Investigators stated in a report, per France 24, that there was “no doubt” Amandine was violently abused by her mother for “the sole purpose” of “humiliating agony.” She reportedly endured food deprivation, “writing punishments” and was locked in a storage room under camera surveillance.
A psychiatric assessment determined Pissarra as angry and violent while looking to “transfer her hatred” of Amandine’s father to her daughter, France 24 reported.
Pissarra said in her final statement in court on Jan. 24, “I want to apologize to my children, that’s all.”
PEOPLE has reached out to the Montpellier court for further comment.
