Beaten, Humiliated, Malnourished: Firsthand Account from Residents of the 'House of Horrors' Illegal Care Homes

Our societal decline continues to be the focus of the news. The moral obligation to respect our elderly parents has been shattered following shocking revelations about illegal nursing homes with miserable conditions and reports of abuse.

After the horrors uncovered at the nursing home in the village of Yagoda, Stara Zagora district (Southern Bulgaria), new reports continue to reach the Prosecutor’s Office. Dozens of elderly residents from the home still have not been sought by their relatives.

Charges have been brought against six individuals for unlawful deprivation of liberty under particularly painful conditions, endangering people in a helpless state, infliction of medium bodily harm in a particularly painful manner, and obstruction of public officials in the performance of their duties.

Sasho Asenov is one of the elderly residents who lived in the illegal home in Yagoda. He was placed there 20 months ago by his daughter, who lives abroad. They wanted him to be among people, but instead of care, he faced violence, poor conditions, and isolation.

“Worse than prison. Filth to the point of sinking. Fleas, lice, scabies. Food in the morning and evening – a sandwich. The doors were locked – with keys. I’m a smoker. I had to go outside to smoke, but there were no cigarettes.”

He attempted to escape three times. Each time he was caught, returned to the home, and beaten.

“There are three administrators, and all three beat me – Mr. Manager Valentin Zhelev, the housekeeper Hristo Kumardzhiev, I think, and the nurse Gina Angelova, who beat and kicked me. I was on crutches for two months,” Sasho Asenov said.

The owners made some of the elderly people work. Gina Gineva cleaned the office of the so-called “boss” for four years, despite paying a monthly fee of 990 BGN like the others.

“I was Mr. Zhelev’s cleaner. I was a resident, I paid the fee, and I was his slave until the very end,” said Gina Gineva.

They say that no medical care was provided in the home. Not even in emergency cases.

“Who can I complain to? You complain – and get beaten.”

There is evidence that residents were drugged. Investigators found medications containing fentanyl in the home.

“Blood and urine samples were taken from the eight individuals hospitalised in Stara Zagora. They have been sent for testing and toxicological examination at the Military Medical Academy (VMA),” stated Tanya Dimitrova, district prosecutor of Stara Zagora.

The results are expected tomorrow. Some of the 75 elderly people removed from the home have been placed with relatives. Others – in social institutions. Among them are individuals whose identities have not yet been established.

“They were in poor condition, very exhausted. They had practically not slept. They were anxious, distressed, and hungry,” said Pavlina Delcheva, Deputy Mayor of Stara Zagora Municipality.

The two women, who had to have part of their toes amputated, are in stable condition. The other six, admitted to the hospital in Stara Zagora, are also recovering.

“Three people are in a mild state of dehydration, i.e., the patients have reduced body weight and muscle mass, which is still visibly evident. One patient was brought in with very severe anemia, with hemoglobin levels at 35, when the normal is 140. The other hospitalised patients have suffered cerebral infarctions or strokes,” explained Prof. Yovcho Yovchev, director of the University Hospital – Stara Zagora.

The Prosecutor’s Office is also investigating possible property fraud involving the elderly residents of the home. Their ID cards had been taken, and completed powers of attorney were discovered on-site.

“Powers of attorney and personal documents have indeed been seized. We will establish how these individuals handed over their personal documents. Some gave them to relatives, others – to the people who cared for them. Whether there were abuses in property transactions is yet to be determined,” said Tanya Dimitrova, district prosecutor of Stara Zagora.

Tomorrow, the district court will decide whether to keep the six detainees in custody. If found guilty, they face effective prison sentences ranging from 3 to 12 years.