What happened to Séréna, this girl discovered at the age of 23 months, in October 2013, in the trunk of a car where she had spent a large part of her life? She will be 7 years old in a few days. Her mother who had hidden her, is currently judged at the assizes in Corrèze.
Serena will be 7 years old on November 24th. It now weighs 20 kg and measures 1,13 m. "It's good," observes a pediatrician from the Corrèze County Council who regularly examines the child. In October 2013, when she was 23 months old and had lived between the trunk of a car and the isolated room of a cellar, "she had the weight and height of a child from 7 to 8 months " Said another pediatrician, Jean-Louis Demarquez.
If Séréna has recovered growth of a child of her age, for the rest, the development of the girl is very delayed. The child acquired chewing, but only after the age of 5 years. Cleanliness too. But from his 5 years and a half. "A cleanliness acquired at the pot, but not the toilet," said a psychologist, however, who met Wednesday, November 14.
Well in his host family
As for the language, "there is still none," observes the pediatrician of the Department. She emits grunts at times. The family assistant with whom she lives, understands her, a few words. The psychologist confirms: "I have heard throat clearing, borborygma. But no words. "
While adding: Serena "is very quickly anxious". As soon as an outside person appears, the girl who suffers from an autistic syndrome most likely irreversible, is frightened or folds on itself. Her cocoon now is the foster family she was placed with. "She has a margin of progression provided she does not experience a break with her current life. However, I do not think she can recover a development that corresponds to the average of children her age, " insists the psychologist.
If the expert insists on the need not to disturb the child, this is what Rosa Maria Da Cruz and her husband, with whom she still lives, have expressed the wish to "get in touch" with Serena. Very bad idea, in short, considers the clinical psychologist: "His mother is part of the traumatic syndrome experienced by the child. When making contact, the trauma would re-emerge. "
The idea would be even more unwelcome, according to the psychiatrist Jacques Bertrand, that it is not certain that in the spirit of Rosa Maria Da Cruz, "Serena was born."
The mother who appears free and who has recovered her three other children, incurs a penalty of twenty years in prison. The verdict is expected tomorrow night.