Her Bosses Nearly Ironed Her To Death

Spyridoula’s gruesome story that shocked an entire nation

There exists a popular saying which states that ‘money is what makes the world go round’. Humans always craved upon materialistic wealth, with many frequently portraying it as the main way of achieving happiness. What happens, though, when someone’s greed overruns their humanness? Spryridoula’s story proves that, more often than not, money serves as the root of all evil rather than anything else.

Spyridoula’s Background

The Greek civil war, which lasted between 1946 and 1949, left the country in much distress. With over 25.000 deaths and many of its infrastructure destroyed, the Greek government began a long-lasting national operation, aimed at getting the dysfunctional country back on its feet. During the post-civil war era (1949–1967), the trampled national economy led the vast majority of the population to live in poverty.

Due to this, underage labor became commonplace among the greek residents. A large number of poverty-stricken minors were ‘forced’ into labor for the wealthier families, in order to make ends meet.

This was, also, the case for Spyridoula Rapti, an adolescent girl born and raised in the Mataraga village of Etoloakarnania. At the young age of 12, Spyridoula found herself working as a maid for the Veizade Family.

Antigoni Veizade, a married mother of a 2-year-old child, had previously visited the lonely village in search of a housekeeper. Spyridoula’s parents recommended the particular job opportunity to her, which she accepted without a second thought.

This marked the start of a 2 year-long nightmare for the young girl.

The Veizade Family

The Veizade Family was one of the wealthier and well-known families of the time. It consisted of George Veizade, Antigoni Veizade, and their (at the time) 2-year-old child, whose name wasn’t publicly revealed. George Veizade was the co-owner of an infamous greek cabaret called «John Boul», located in Piraeus’s notorious Troumpa neighborhood.

On the other hand, Antigoni Veizade was frequently described as a religious woman, dedicated to raising her only child. The couple had a bad reputation amongst the nearby residents, yet, it had never grabbed the attention of the local authorities, up until this point.

That would soon change, though.

The Torturous Days

Before acquiring Spyridoula as their personal maid, the Veizade couple had promised her father, Kostas Raptis, to keep her safe and, most importantly, happy. Unfortunately, the promise would turn out to be far from truthful. From the day Spyridoula stepped foot in their homestead, the Veizades would regularly abuse her both mentally and physically.

She was assigned countless chores around the house which amounted to almost 16 hours of constant daily labor. She would, also, receive a minimal amount of food from them, which barely kept the 12-year-old girl alive. Had she not finished her chores by the end of the day with absolute perfection, she wouldn’t receive any food at all.

To top this all off, Spyridoula’s salary consisted of just 70–80 drachmas (approximately 0.2 USD) and some ragged clothing items. This method of ‘payment’ took place once per month and it was collected by Spridoula’s father on a hand-to-hand exchange between him and George Veizade.

Moreover, collection day was the only time Mr. Raptis was able to visit his daughter inside the Veizade estate. It is also worth mentioning, that the couple would typically show a change of character, around the time Kostas visited each month. Only then would they treat her with a great and wholesome volume of edibles, which the starving girl would consume with absolute delight.

Despite their attempts of covering Spyridoula’s mistreatment, the girl’s malnourished body made it obvious that something suspicious was happening behind the scenes. Kostas took notice of this but didn’t act accordingly until it was too late.

The Fateful Night

Spyridoula’s suffering carried on for almost 2 years, up until the day the unthinkable happened.

On the evening of July 31st, 1955, George Veizade realized that one of his, seemingly abundant, 50 dollar bills was missing. Although Greece’s currency, at the time, was the Greek Drachma (GRD), it wasn’t uncommon for Mr. Veizade to be regularly paid in foreign currencies due to the high attendance of foreigners into his infamous cabaret.

It should be noted that 50 dollars was a quite significant amount of money for that era (50 USD worthed about 14.000 GRD). Without putting any thought to it, George Veizade immediately accused the 12-year-old of having committed the theft.

Mr. Veizade’s reaction to the missing bill wasn’t, at the slightest, unanticipated if someone were to take into account Spyridoula’s treatment by the couple, prior to the incident. The innocent girl denied having any involvement with this, yet, the Veizades were almost convinced that she was to be blamed for money’s disappearance.

After hours of trying to make the girl admit to a crime she didn’t commit, the couple decided that desperate measures were needed to be taken so as to make Spyridoula talk. Having noticed that her iron was already plugged in and warmed up, Antigoni Veizade came up with, what can only be described, as a twisted idea. She suggested that ironing the poor girl alive will, surely, make her reveal the location of the alleged stolen money. And that’s exactly what they did.

From then on the evil couple would repeatedly iron Spyridoula on nearly every part of her body. Throughout the duration of the inhumane and torturous practice, Antigoni Veizade would hold the girl’s hands, preventing her from escaping. Moreover, the Veizades stuffed Spridoula’s mouth with an old cloth with the intent of silencing the screams of the girl’s suffering.

Spyridoula would, regularly, pass out over the intense pain that was inflicted upon her. Though, when the girl would wake back up they’d, relentlessly, continue with their despicable act. The couple would even take turns when it came to who would perform the ‘ironing’.

Spyridoula’s torment lasted for 2 entire days.

The Aftermath

On August 2nd, 1955, the Veizades finally decided to put an end to their cruel and atrocious ‘mean of interrogation’. At this point in time, the young girl was barely alive.

Having kept her locked in a room with hardly any food or clothing for 2 additional days, the evil couple was forced into taking Spyridoula to the nearby hospital, just so they could avoid having a corpse in their homestead.

So, on August 4th, 1955, Antigoni Veizade along with the adolescent girl arrived at the Tzanio Hospital of Piraeus. Reports say that upon arrival at the hospital, Spyridoula was wrapped in some blue rags while she was, also, wearing no clothes.

Antigoni Veizade, falsely, informed the medical staff there that the burn marks on Spyridoula’s body were caused by her mistakenly pouring a pot full of boiling water on top of herself.

After performing an extensive check on Spyridoula, doctors unveiled that she had multiple 3rd-degree burns all over her body, many of which were severely infected. Additionally, the girl was, also, suffering from a high fever and unendurable pain.

Doctors believed the girl had minimal chances of survival, considering the burns covered almost half her body. To everyone’s surprise, though, not only did Spyridoula survive her wounds but she also made an astonishing recovery, leaving many in absolute disbelief.

The ‘’Harsh’’ Punishments

Soon after regaining her consciousness, Spyridoula spoke out about the abuse she had endured during her days in the Veizade homestead.

Even before her confession, the Tzanio’s medical staff were already questioning Antigoni’s ‘boiling water’ story, as the shape of the burn marks made it apparent they were inflicted by the use of an iron. Because of, both their suspicions and Spyridoula’s confession, it didn’t get long for the local authorities to be involved.

Subsequent to conducting a brief investigation, upon arriving on the scene, the police arrested the Antigoni Veizade on site. Her husband, George Veizade, was apprehended shortly afterward. Their sentencing took place on the 31st of January 1956, five whole months after the incident.

The couple was found guilty on the charge of causing severe physical harm up to a felony degree. Antigoni Veizade received a 5-year prison sentence while George Veizade received a 4 year and 6 months one.

Understandably, the court’s verdict enraged the plaintiff's side, along with the public opinion, as they considered the punishment, given to the couple, to be rather mild. In addition to this, it is worth noting that Spyridoula’s family was compensated 20.000 Drachmas (GRD) for both the mental and physical distress the child had undergone.

The Veizades died a couple of years later from natural causes, while still serving their prison sentence. Their 3-year old (at the time) daughter’s fate remains unknown, to this day.

Posterior to her making a complete recovery, Spyridoula went on to live a long and fulfilling life with her having 2 beautiful children, together with her husband. Having given a couple of interviews in the years following her incident, she decided it would be best, both for her and her family, to remain out of the public spotlight. Reports say that she currently resides in Athens and runs a small business along with her family.

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