A family was discovered living in inhumane conditions in Kato Trikala Corinthias, shocking Greece’s public opinion.
The revelation came after a resident filed a complaint alleging that members of the family had set fire to and burned his car in his field.
Initially, when the police went to the area last Sunday, they found the family, originally from Ikaria, living in primitive conditions for the past three years.
They were residing in an improvised semi-underground structure with a mud roof, resembling a cave.
When the family members saw the police, they attacked them, with the daughter of the family even hitting a police officer with a wooden bat, causing injury.
During a thorough search of the improvised dwelling and the father’s car, a pellet gun, 102 bullets for a hunting rifle, 81 cartridges, 7 makeshift bows, 20 arrows, 4 knives, an improvised rifle, and an axe were found and confiscated.
The family had three other underage children, one of whom was a one-year-old infant all living amidst the mud, in what was described as “deplorable conditions”.
Further investigations led to the discovery, hidden along a rugged path used by the family members in their attempt to escape, of two makeshift firearms with modified one-inch barrels and a military-type M-4 rifle.
Charges were filed against the four arrested individuals – the father, mother, adult daughter, and one underage son – for arson, serious physical injury, threats, disobedience, damage to property, resistance, and weapons offenses.
They were taken to the prosecutor and released, while an investigation by the Municipality’s social service was ordered to determine the living conditions of the underage children, who were instructed to be taken by the father’s eldest daughter from another marriage living in normal conditions.
The father of the family, whose case brought this community to light, revealed to MEGA TV that they do not send their children to school because they disagree with Greek education.
He stated, “We are a community of early Christians, following the examples of ancient Russia or the Amish in America, rejecting technological progress and living traditionally, like the first Christians.” He added, “I call my wife Sister Sebastiani and my son Brother Nikolaos. We are all brothers” speaking to Star Channel. According to him, there are four such communities in Greece.
“A poacher came on Saturday night and was hunting twenty meters away from an isolated house. He had trapped a female wild pig and wanted to murder it,” he said.
He even claimed that the weapons found in his possession were not weapons but “artifacts”.
“In ancient Greece, bows were considered shameful; ancient Greeks had spears. During Roman times, because we are Romioi, which means not Greeks, but Romans, the bow came to Byzantium. Therefore, we have the bow in our emblem, which differentiates us from the Greeks. It is an artifact, we make it traditionally, and we do not treat it as a weapon; it is a sign of our civilisation,” added the 45-year-old. Meanwhile, his wife showed a burrow they dug, reaching 30 meters in length. The burrow leads to a space resembling a chapel.
“It is a place of worship; they broke our door,” she said, pointing to the entrance, and added that “it leads to a larger space that has the sacred place, a dome”.
There is even a ventilation system in the cave “to prevent the images from getting mouldy” from the moisture produced by the ground.
When asked why they dug it, she claimed, “No materials come here, and we had no money. How would we worship, commune, baptize, marry?” she said.
“This is our life. We have been here for about 4 years.”
They only take care of their own water and bread, as she said, as they grow wheat.
When asked if the children go to school and socialise, she replied, “They also go to church, to events, to relatives, to friends. We know the villagers, we go on excursions, we don’t hide.”
Regarding the weapons found, she referred to the axe and the bows, saying that they are part of their culture. The couple claimed that the authorities were looking for things to show that they had done something wrong, and found some knives that do not even cut thread, the woman said to Alpha TV.
