AN INHUMAN COUPLE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9171, 13 June 1901, Page 4

AN INHUMAN COUPLE.

A horrible story of cruelty to a child was revealed at the Richmond (Tasmania) Court during the hearing of charges of common assault aud aggravated ill-treat-ment preferred by the police against Christopher Chatters and his wife Maria. The child ill-treated and assaulted was an orphan niece of the accused, aged 11 years. The evidence showed that for some time past the girl had been knocked j about every day, and severely beaten with harness straps with heavy buckles on the ends, and kicked by her uncle, who had also bumped her head against the wall. Her aunt had every morning thrown her into a cold bath, and beaten her with a broom or' paling when she shivered. She had been compelled to sleep on straw with, two old bags, and she had been starved and more than once compelled to eat human filth. The child's statements were corroborated by reliable witnesses, who had frequently protested against the ill-usuage. Medical evidence showed that the girl had been terribly knocked about, her body being a mass of bruises and lacerations. The child eventually informed a policeman, who took her to his home and protected her. The accused, she said, had threatened to kill her if she told anyone how she was treated, and after she went to the constable, they tried to "square" the police. The Bench inflicted the maximum penalty of £25, m default six months' imprisonment, for common assault. They committed both accused for trial on the second charge, that of aggravated ill-treatment.