Have you heard of Victoria Climbié?

Victoria Climbié* was tortured and murdered by her Great Aunt (Marie-Thérèse Kouao) and her boyfriend (Carl Manning) in 2000. Kouao had been entrusted with her care because her parents wanted her to have a “better life”. Victoria died with 128 injuries on her body.

The diagram below is a police account of the injuries Victoria had at the time of her death.

It’s important to emphasise that she was only 8 years old at the time of her death.

She was born in 1991 near Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and lived in Abobo with her parents until 1998 when she travelled with her Aunt to Paris for a better education. Her Aunt was a French citizen.

*Victoria may also be referred to as Anna, as a false passport was used to get her into Europe.

The pair travelled to London 5 months later due to her aunt being sought after by French authorities over benefit payments.

Kouao met Carl Manning, a bus driver, while aboard a bus with Victoria. They quickly moved into his home in Tottenham, North London.

The timeline for when the abuse towards Victoria started is unclear as she spoke no english when she arrived to England. It is certain however, that when Kouao moved in with her boyfriend, Victoria began to suffer abuse almost immediately at his hands.

The facts are gory and likely a horrific underestimation of all that Victoria truly went through.

Marie-Thérèse Kouao would hit Climbie on a daily basis and practice medieval punishment methods such as striking her toes with a hammer.

Manning was responsible for a lot of brute force used against the child. Victoria was whipped and hit with a bicycle chain and traces of her blood were found on his football boots. There was evidence of her being hit with wires and both parties were found to have been putting out cigarettes on her body.

They used an eight-year old little girl like an ashtray.

Unfathomable to any ordinarily functioning member of society but worth noting that it’s not entirely uncommon.

There are several horrific cases that prove child abuse is not an isolated or rare occurrence. Many people will remember Baby P. A harrowing case of a little boy called Peter who died after suffering over 50 injuries in an eight-month period.

The worst thing about infantile abuse is that the children often have no awareness of the fact that they are being abused.

To find out how you can help please visit Citizens Advice

To learn more and see how you can identify abuse visit Help Guide

*Article is constantly being updated.

More information can be found on the Victoria Climbié Inquiry or on the Victoria Climbié Foundation’s website.