Georgiana Pascu, a program manager for a rights group, said the Center for Legal Resources planned an impromptu inspection of the institution after getting anxious text messages from a young guy concerned about his friend's circumstances at a social care home in central Romania.
A non-governmental group found 23 individuals living on the floors above and six people living in the Little House of Min's cramped, dirty basement, surrounded by building equipment.
A Court Inquiry
They said that four severely disabled individuals were resting on beds that were "soiled with feces, urine, and blood, with flies on them," and that they "couldn't defend themselves and couldn't ask for help," as reported by The Associated Press.
When the three-person team from the Center for Legal Resources summoned the emergency services, police and ambulance workers showed up shortly. Still, even they requested backup, according to Pascu.
A homeowner pointed Pascu to a modest, "secluded room" some hours later. Two individuals resided there, "with only a bed inside" and "neither artificial nor natural light."
The NGO's findings sparked a court inquiry after comparable revelations in other private organizations. As a result of what Romanian media has nicknamed the "horror homes" scandal, two Cabinet members have already been forced to leave.
The discovery is just the most recent in a spate of unsettling revelations that have been featured on the front page of the local media, highlighting the effects that corruption can have on Romania's most vulnerable citizens.
Romania joined the European Union as a member in 2007. Its membership in the EU largely depended on it taking steps to combat pervasive corruption. However, Transparency International reports that the country is still among the most corrupt in the union.
Other Elderly Home Raids in the Country
Early in July, police raids at three different care facilities in Ilfov near Bucharest also discovered extensive elder and disabled person abuse and neglect. Pictures of people chained to beds in filthy quarters, some looking rake-thin and showing evidence of physical torture.
In those instances, Romania's anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, claimed that two organized criminal gangs accused of human trafficking and other crimes were established in 2020 to "exploit people with disabilities or in vulnerable situations." Prosecutors claimed residents were subjected to unpaid labor via coercion and physical violence and weren't provided enough food.
According to prosecutors, over 20 individuals who have opened a criminal probe are reportedly involved in the case.
After discovering that the Little House of Min had created a criminal gang in 2020 "to commit the crime of human trafficking," and that its inmates had been subjected to "inhumane and degrading treatment" through acts of physical and psychological violence, DIICOT detained three people.
Prosecutors claimed that residents were being taken advantage of under the pretext of an organization that withheld their state assistance payments or money provided to them by friends and family. The funds were primarily spent "for the benefit of the members of the group," rather than for the welfare of the residents.
According to DIICOT, one of the managers of the Ilfov nursing home was wasting money on parties, drugs, and prostitutes. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate, which is also looking into two social inspectors for corruption after they performed favorable inspections on his property in May, is looking into him for abuse of office.
