The values we don’t teach and the children we lose: more on the Lukovit case

Before we teach children virtues, we must protect them – with justice, compassion and responsibility

A week ago, a child was savagely beaten – in such an inhuman way that it is hard to believe that someone who has the pretence to call himself “human” could commit such deliberate cruelty. Because beating up a child, breaking both his arms and throwing him off a six-metre bridge is attempted murder. When a child gets hurt in such a brutal way, it means we have reached rock bottom as a society. A society with pseudo-morals, pseudo-values, pseudo-religion, pseudo-tolerance, pseudo-justice. And all against the hypocritical “debate” about the subject of “Virtues and Religion” in school.

The case in Lukovit showed how sick our society is and screamed “The king is naked”. The case brought to light the worst plagues of this disease:

1. The lack of social sensitivity and the double standard of society. Any miracle for 3 three – by April 30, all was forgotten and the case became “cold news”. There were no mass protests, no roadblocks, no photos in the squares (not because anyone cared to protect the identity of the child). And after all, being a Roma kid, it must have deserved it … (Not that everyone didn’t take junk from other people’s yards when they were little …) So anyway, there is no sinless gypsy, every smoke has a fire, it’s high time we applied the Krum laws … these are just some of the comments I read on social media. I couldn’t believe that there was anything, whatever it was, that could justify such cruelty, especially when a child was involved. I saw that the perpetrator wasn’t one – there were hundreds, all of them with excuses – only they hadn’t physically done it yet, but in their minds and consciousness they had already beaten that child.
2. The broken institutions. Amalipe’s research on domestic violence in the Roma community from November 2020 showed extremely low trust of Roma women in institutions when it comes to seeking protection and justice (in fact none of the women surveyed had sought help from institutions). 86% of Roma do not report cases of discrimination because they do not trust institutions. Not that Bulgarian citizens in general believe in the institutions and in the police in particular (according to the Anti-Corruption Fund, 69% of Bulgarian citizens believe that if they report corruption they may suffer and do not feel protected). In this case, the national police did not fail to confirm this impression – the perpetrator was detained for only 24 hours and then released, having confessed to the extremely serious and cruel act. The local community should have risen up, the media should have been involved and only then the perpetrator should have been detained again, now for 72 hours and eventually with a permanent detention order. Again, this went under the heading of “This is how things work here” – there were no police resignations, not even an apology. Nor did we hear that psychologists were sent to the school of the injured child, because I cannot imagine how the boy’s classmates and friends feel.
3. The silence of politicians. Suddenly everyone was gripped by chronic institutional voicelessness. Not a single official statement or public comment was made by national politicians or heads of institutions on the case of the beaten child. There was no official and unqualified sanction of either the act or the discriminatory aggression and racism towards the victim on social media. The State Agency for Child Protection was also covered by deafening silence. The Commission for Protection against Discrimination was also silent. And it must have been better, because there would probably have been some misunderstood official who would have blurted out “But is it a child or a gypsy?” Media coverage and reactions were mostly local, including from the mayor of Lukovit, Ivan Grancharov, who was the only one to condemn the attack and call for justice. Public attention and protests in the town have tried to draw attention to the seriousness of the incident, but there is currently no evidence of official reactions at the national level.
4. The sensation-hungry media. And while some media outlets have shown a true standard of reporting on child abuse cases (including preserving the identity of the victim), a leading journalist took the liberty on national air, in a morning block, seeking cheap yellow sensationalism, to “pour water on the mill” of all those with the comments of item 1, shifting the focus to a past conflict that happened with the family of the child victim – as if that had any relevance to the current serious criminal incident.

Has our society changed in a century?

What happened to the child in Lukovit, and especially the behaviour of the perpetrator, is very reminiscent of “Snaha” by G. Karaslavov. Yurtalana kills a child who has plucked several ears of corn from his field. The perpetrator feels no guilt because the child “steals corn,” hence is only to blame. The police do not punish Yurtalana. The differences with the case in Lukovit are minimal. But we are talking about an event that took place a century later (Karaslavov published “The daughter-in-law” (Снахата) in 1930). Is our society really not changing at all?

And here I will bring the subject back to the debate about values. But before we set out to violate the constitution by taking away the secular character of the Bulgarian school, the debate about values should include how institutions and adults share the values we want to teach our children – kindness, tolerance, fairness, empathy, democracy, justice … I don’t see them anywhere in the above.

That is why we, from Center Amalipe, insist on the immediate, albeit delayed, reaction of the institutions – Ministry of Interior, Prosecutor’s Office, State Agency for Child Protection, Ministry of Education and Science and respectively Regional Education Department, Commission for Protection from Discrimination, etc. for:

• Categorically condemn and stigmatize not only this type of acts but also any manifestations of racism, discrimination and toleration of such acts using ethnic motives – both offline and online
• Full and impartial investigation of the case;
• Check for possible ethnic motive and hate crime;
• Provide medical, psychological and legal support for the child, his family and his classmates;
• Ensure the safety of all vulnerable children in the community.

The case in Lukovit is not just about one child – it mirrors a society in which institutions are breaking down and values are being diluted. This case is not isolated – it is also another painful reminder of the growing intolerance and violence that Roma children in Bulgaria are subjected to.

Amalipe will continue to demand justice, public accountability and concrete action to show that there is no place for violence fuelled by prejudice and hatred in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria has no children to kill!

Author: Teodora Krumova