As announced on the official website of the institution on 30 July 2025, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria, Velislava Delcheva, has alerted national authorities to alarming reports received from UNICEF – Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee regarding alleged severe violence against children at the Social and Pedagogical Boarding School (SPI) “Hristo Botev” in the village of Varnentsi, Tutrakan Municipality.

The reports, gathered within the framework of projects implemented by these organisations, are based on interviews with children placed in the institution by court decision. Children and their parents described systematic and repeated violations of children’s rights, including allegations of physical, sexual, and psychological violence, forced hard labour, physical exhaustion as punishment, and restrictions on communication with the outside world.

The information, documented and submitted in writing to the Ombudsman, contains direct testimonies from the children themselves, pointing to serious violations allegedly committed by boarding school staff and other minors.

In response to these serious allegations, and in her capacity as National Preventive Mechanism, the Ombudsman conducted an unannounced inspection on 24 July this year at the facility housing minor boys in Varnentsi.