Social services in Imatra received information in August 2022 that a local woman planned to visit St. Petersburg with her son. Authorities knew the elderly mother spent time at the woman's apartment.
A social worker decided to make an unannounced home visit to the 67-year-old woman's residence.
What awaited the social worker was a grim discovery.
The apartment was filthy with floors covered in clutter. A 96-year-old frail elderly woman lay on a sofa in her own excrement.
According to the social worker's testimony, there was at least a shovel's worth of feces on the sofa. She didn't investigate further but immediately called emergency services.
The exhausted elderly woman was carried out on a stretcher and taken to hospital. The social worker noted a disgusting smell filled the apartment at that moment.
The elderly woman was malnourished, had bedsores, was in pain, and due to dementia didn't know where she was. She screamed constantly when taken for a shower.
The elderly woman survived and her condition eventually stabilized to moderate.
Her hip had been fractured back in spring 2021 in St. Petersburg, but she never sought treatment in her home country. After arriving in Finland that same October, the woman visited the emergency department with her daughter but then left.
Until the following August, the elderly woman received no treatment for her fracture.
The 67-year-old Imatra woman faced charges of aggravated assault with an alternative lesser charge of abandonment.
She denied any crime. She said she loved her mother and had brought her to live in Imatra for that reason. She had collected her mother by taxi.
The woman claimed she cared for her mother tenderly like a baby. She changed diapers as needed, cleaned her with wet wipes, and helped her shower when necessary.
She cooked meals for her mother and gave her medications and vitamins.
Her mother didn't lie on the sofa all the time, she said. The woman helped her mother move around the apartment and they watched television together. Her mother had been on the balcony in a wheelchair.
According to the woman, her mother refused leg surgery because she feared dying during the operation.
The social worker testifying in South Karelia District Court dismissed the defendant's claims about wheelchairs and diapers. She hadn't seen any such items in the apartment. The floor clutter made wheelchair use impossible anyway, and even healthy people struggled to move around.
The trial revealed that after her mother's hospitalization, the defendant tried to force her way into the locked ward where her mother was being treated. A Russian-speaking nurse was called to explain the rules.
The woman threatened to kill the nurse.
Subsequently, she could only visit her mother under security supervision.
The district court gave little weight to the defendant's account. It found her guilty of most charges in the prosecutor's description. When found, the elderly woman was malnourished, immobile, and defecating on the sofa.
However, the court noted the daughter hadn't caused life-threatening conditions, serious injury, or severe illness. Untreated bedsores could lead to serious infection and life-threatening situations, but this hadn't occurred.
The court determined the elderly woman hadn't lain on the sofa for nearly 11 months continuously. The daughter had cleaned her mother's skin in some manner.
The court found the defendant's behavior and courtroom statements raised concerns about her mental health. The presiding judge questioned whether her mental state should be examined.
The prosecutor supported a mental health evaluation while the woman opposed it.
In an interim ruling on Tuesday, the district court ordered the defendant to undergo forensic psychiatric examination. The court will deliver its final verdict once the examination results are available.
This case highlights the complex challenges facing cross-border elder care arrangements between Finland and Russia, particularly when family members lack proper caregiving resources or capacity.