Witnesses were called to the stand in the first sitting of the compilation of evidence against a woman accused of severely neglecting and abandoning her six-year-old daughter in her own home on 17 May and the previous months. The woman’s name cannot be published to protect her daughter’s identity.

One of the woman’s neighbours, Rosanne Pullicino, said that in January, she noticed the girl was spending a lot of time alone on the doorstep of her home. At first, she refused the food Mrs Pullicino offered her, but later started accepting it.

The witness said she confronted the accused and offered her assistance. “I told her she could leave the child with me,” said Mrs Pullicino. The witness said she was not the only one who fed this little girl.

The case was then reported and investigated by social workers, during which time the girl was not staying with her mother. Later, however, the girl was sent back to her mother. “When she came back from the police station, the girl was crying because she was afraid of her mother,” Mrs Pullicino continued.

Nothing happened in February but in March, the witness said she noticed the little girl being regularly locked in the washroom on the roof. Mrs Pullicino also said that when she looked into the girl’s bedroom window through the shaft, she noticed what she believed to be human excrement.

The girl had a frightened manner and was very dirty, the witness continued. “When I gave her food, she always emphasised I had to take any plates or empty bags back because her mother would be angry if she knew other people were feeding her,” Mrs Pullicino said. “Do not tell my mother because she will beat me,” the girl said to her.

In May, Mrs Pullicino noticed the girl was being locked out on the balcony for days at a stretch. On 17 May, the accused left the house at 6.45am, came back at 11am and then left again, the witness continued. The woman did not feed her daughter and left her out on the balcony. Mrs Pullicino said she filed another police report and took photographs of the state the girl was in.

Josephine Scerri, another of the accused’s neighbours, also testified at yesterday’s sitting and corroborated Mrs Pullicino’s version of events. She confirmed that the six-year-old girl was left to her own devices many times – on the doorstep, in the washroom and on the balcony, with only 39 cats for company.

“At first it did not cross my mind that she had been locked in the washroom, but then I heard her speaking to the cats and noticed she had no way out,” said Ms Scerri. The girl even slept in the washroom with just a pillow. She told Ms Scerri she had felt very cold during the night.

The Civil Protection officer who helped rescue the girl from the balcony, after it was reported she had been locked outside, also took the stand yesterday. Natalino Bezzina explained how he abseiled down to the balcony the girl was on because there was no other way of getting to her.

The girl could only go from the balcony to the adjoining bedroom, that was not kept in a fit state to live in, he said. She had no access to a telephone or a toilet and both the room and the girl emitted a foul stench. Mr Bezzina said that the little girl had not been frightened and spoke to him as he took her up to safety.

Dr Andrew Borg examined the six-year-old and said she only weighed 20 kilos. She had spent a lot of time outside while her mother went about her business. The girl had numerous cat scratches and bruises, he said, and her ribs were very prominent.

He deemed the girl as being very intelligent. She is fluent in English and Maltese and also knows a couple of Italian words, continued Dr Borg. She does not seem psychologically affected by her ordeal, but she never spoke of her parents or her eight brothers and sisters. She is now happy staying with the nuns, the doctor continued. He suggested the court appoint a child psychologist to examine the girl’s state more thoroughly.

The case continues.