NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times
Dan Keenan
Wed, Mar 5, 2014
Allegations of rapes, beatings and other abuses made by former residents of Derry care homes run by the Sisters of Nazareth have been heard by the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry. Statements submitted to the inquiry from those implicated strongly deny all claims.
The allegations and subsequent denials dominated evidence on the 15th day of the inquiry into alleged abuses in residential institutions.
One witness, who alleged she was repeatedly physically abused at St Joseph’s Home, Termonbacca, in Derry, said she was also raped while in care outside the institution.
The woman, who is now herself a foster parent, told the inquiry panel she and her husband provided homes for children in care because she “didn’t want them to go through what I went through”.
The witness, who cannot be identified, cited regular beatings from a named nun who also showed alleged bias against children who “did not tell her things”. The inquiry heard this nun also force-fed children.
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