Parents of abused toddlers from Eilat demand thorough investigation of daycare

An indictment was filed last week in a Beersheba court against Ilana Kovar, the owner of a daycare center in Eilat, by the parents of toddlers who were reportedly abused while in her care.

Maayan Ortal, the mother of two of the toddlers from Kovar's nursery, released a statement to the media saying: "We are standing here today, a representative of parents, whose world was destroyed in one day."

"Children who experienced physical and mental abuse will probably have to deal with the consequences of it for the rest of their lives," Ortal continued. "Our little children have experienced terror, physical and mental violence, and bullying by Kovar, starvation on the one hand and overfeeding on the other."

"In the last few days, we, the parents, came to the Eilat police station to view the documentation of the abuse and were exposed to it," she said.

The children weren't safe

"Tying some of the toddlers to a 'punishment swing' while putting a diaper on their head and hitting them in the face, grabbing the children by the neck, suffocating them, slamming them against the wall or the floor, isolating them in dark rooms, pulling their hair, slamming them against each other, opening their mouths and squeezing food straight down their throats, withholding food from some on purpose while others are eating, holding a toddler down while demanding other toddlers to beat the child that's being held down and other documents of horrors that the mind cannot grasp.

"We want to believe by taking this serious case where there are over 450 incidences of physical and mental abuse documented every day, and the systems led by the education system as well, will understand that the time has come for a change and create areas that will protect toddlers who cannot speak out for themselves," Ortal continued.

Ortal also makes note that Kovar had witnesses to the abuse and did not take any action to prevent it, which include "Reut Kober, Ruthie Raphael, and Marcel Guetta."

"For months they were witnesses to the acts of violence, bullying, isolation, as well as mental and physical abuse towards our children and they did not stop it for a moment. The punishment for them should not be less severe than Kovar's punishment. Release the tapes documenting the horrors to the media," Ortal said.

"Our children deserve justice. Kovar and the others do not deserve protection by the media."