A family celebration followed by a painful discovery
Only days after the family marked the 100th birthday of Berta with a celebration, her daughter Marcela Coronel went on the air on Primicias Ya, broadcast by América TV, to say that the woman hired to look after her mother had been mistreating her both physically and verbally. The evidence came from security cameras installed in various rooms of the centenarian's home, which are routinely monitored by Coronel's sister.[S1][S2]
Coronel, a panelist on the program hosted by Marina Calabró and Luis Ventura, arrived at the production meeting visibly shaken and apologized to her colleagues before explaining that she was struggling with a situation involving her mother. Calabró opened the broadcast by describing what the recordings showed, including slaps, shoves and a roughness the host called hard to put into words.[S1]
There was no specific suspicion that prompted the review, according to Coronel. Her sister checks the feeds whenever she can, and on that night what she saw led her to send a stream of clips to the family group chat while urging relatives to listen and watch because of what the caregiver was doing.[S1]
A caregiver who knew the cameras were there
Calabró stressed that the caregiver, identified as Norma Noeimí Sandin, had worked for the family for some time and was fully aware both of the cameras and of Coronel's public profile, yet showed no hesitation about hitting or pushing the elderly woman. The host said the team was deeply affected because Coronel is their colleague and because they had all been closely involved in the 100th birthday celebration.[S1]
Coronel explained that she chose to speak out because she has a platform and wanted to use it for something worthwhile, and she raised the question of what families do when their parents are very old and they must select the people who will care for them. In one of the recordings, the caregiver can be heard shouting at the centenarian while striking her and blaming her for repeated mistakes. Calabró pointed to the cruelty of holding the victim responsible, a woman of 100.[S1]
Coronel added that her mother, beyond her age, has a fairly advanced dementia that leaves her disabled. In her words, Berta cannot defend herself, cannot communicate what is happening to her and cannot grasp such mistreatment and cruelty. According to the journalist, the caregiver had been with the family for roughly two years.[S1][S2]
Warning signs and the decision to act
Coronel acknowledged that there had been earlier signals, such as occasional rude replies or irritation over trivial matters, though she said those outbursts were aimed at relatives rather than at Berta, who was treated differently when someone was watching. She also recalled that her mother's doctor had recently cautioned that the caregiver did not inspire confidence and advised the family to keep an eye on her.[S1]
After receiving the videos, the family consulted lawyers through the night. Coronel did not sleep, knowing the woman was still caring for her mother, but the family decided not to intervene at that moment because waking Berta would have upset her. The next morning a nephew went to the police station with all the material, and officers responded at once, with six of them going to the home to detain the caregiver.[S1]
According to Infobae, the Buenos Aires City Police arrested the 58-year-old caregiver on Friday on charges of injury and threats. The SAME emergency service attended to Berta at the residence and carried out a clinical check. The case is before the Unidad Fiscal de Litigación y Asistencia (UFLA) Oeste, headed by doctor Galvano Corral.[S1]
Coronel said the family wanted the woman to go to prison so that the same thing would not happen to someone else, and she recalled always wondering, when she saw similar cases on the news, what became of the people involved after complaints were filed. She described the experience as horrible and terrible, and said she could find no other way to put it.[S2]
