The Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry has heard claims that a child was forced to perform oral sex on a nun.
A witness, who was a resident at Nazareth House in Derry’s Bishop Street during the 1960s, said she was between the ages of four and five when she was made to lie on her back on the floor by a nun who straddled her, lifting her habit and forcing the child to perform a sex act on her.
She said she was terrified.
She told the inquiry she reported the incident to another nun some time later. The witness, who cannot be identified, said the nun did get back to her, but now denies this ever happened.
“She said to me – she would have remembered if something like this had have been said – but I would swear on the Bible that this conversation took place,” she said.
The inquiry is examining the treatment of girls and boys at 13 residential institutions across Northern Ireland since the foundation of the state.
The witness told of frequent beatings by the more senior girls and alleged repeatedly that nuns looked on without preventing abuse. She had entered the home, she said, because her parents were not married.
On one occasion she told the inquiry panel she was forced by other girls to eat her own vomit having got sick during a meal. She complained of being constantly cold and hungry. She said that due to thirst, she would often drink rainwater from a drain.
She told the inquiry that when she began having periods she was only given two sanitary towels per day, morning and evening. The witness said that as she was only given one pair of pants per week, she used to wash her pair out daily and try to get them to dry overnight.
“They were always soaking, but at least they were clean,” she said.
She further told the inquiry that while there were many beatings in the home, one nun showed her great kindness and tried to look after her when she was taken ill.
She said the atmosphere was always better at Christmas.
“There was a lovely atmosphere in the home at Christmas. They [THE NUNS]were a lot nicer at Christmas,” she said.
“We got the one present – I can always remember getting snakes and ladders or a selection box and on another occasion getting a night gown. “
She said she also enjoyed Hallowe’en. “They held a party for Halloween. We had fireworks, I was petrified of them but we had a party.”