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The death of 8-year-old Eerika was a legal case in which 8-year-old Vilja Eerika Tarkki died of suffocation in Puotila, Helsinki, as a result of long-term abuse on Mother's Day in May 2012. The child's father Touko Tarkki and his girlfriend Sirpa Laamanen were sentenced to life imprisonment.

In 2010, Eerika moved from her mother to live with her father, who had previously divorced her, and her father's new girlfriend. While the girl was living with them, she was abused mentally and physically. The police's preliminary investigation revealed that Eerika had suffered from daily scolding, humiliation, violence and deprivation of freedom at home.

The girl's death led to a wide-ranging public debate about the state of child protection, and several reports were made based on it. The report of the working group of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health presented an increase in resources for child protection. In a 2013 survey by the municipal association, it appeared that one social worker can be responsible for up to 160 children, while the recommendation is around 20–50 children. Only about half of Finnish municipalities had enough child protection personnel.

Background
Vilja Eerika Tarkki was born on April 6, 2004. Her parents divorced soon after she was born, and Eerika stayed with her mother. In 2010, the mother was no longer able to take care of the child, and the father received custody. Six-year-old Eerika moved in with her father and his new girlfriend. They lived in a studio apartment, but the father assured the social authorities that he would soon get a bigger apartment. A place had been searched for the girl in the reception facilities, but there was no space in them.

In her new home, Eerika experienced constant domestic violence. The father's girlfriend was clearly the initiator of the violence and accused the father of not disciplining his child. For example, Eerika was force-fed, beaten and forced to run around the yard. The Parents also filmed some of the acts. They later justified the running with the girl's overweight and the forced feeding with the girl's eating disorder. The girlfriend accused Eerika of breaking things and cutting clothes, but later found out that she herself was behind the acts.

The neighbors wondered about the girl running for hours outside, and at school Teachers and Principal wondered about the bruises on her face. Eerika's mother also paid attention to the same things. They were in contact with the social authorities, but the several child protection reports made about Eerika only led to negotiations with the father at that time. Eerika's body had 89 signs of abuse when she died.

At the end of 2011, the mother filed a lawsuit for the custody of her daughter in the Helsinki district court. However, the father objected to the mother's demand for custody and wider visitation rights, and the district court ordered the girl to stay with her father. In November 2011, the father contacted the authorities and claimed that Eerika had numerous behavioral disorders. She was examined, but the need for treatment did not appear. After that, she was placed in a family support center, where there were no signs of the alleged behavioral disorders. After a placement period of a few months, the child protection authorities decided to return Eerika to her father, even though the girl herself was against returning home. After returning home, she started showing injuries again, and the girl's school contacted child welfare on several occasions.

Death
The violence that led to Eerika's death reached its extreme in the spring of 2012, when the social authorities returned him to his father. According to the indictment, the girl was tied up and wrapped for the night at least 25 times. The father later said that he believed his girlfriend, who had told her that packing is common in the children's home where she has worked. Since 2009, the girlfriend has been appearing under a made-up foreign identity, claiming to be Nadja Berough, A French-Moroccan doctor.

The night before Mother's Day 2012, the father and his girlfriend tied Eerika's hands with tape and cable ties, wrapped her in a sheet and put her on the sofa bed, after which she was further wrapped in a tarp. Because of the girl's lack of movement, the girlfriend hit her in the stomach with her fist and with an electric cable on the soles of her feet. The girl's face was covered with a sheet and packing tape was drawn over her mouth and nose. Based on the forensic examination, Eerika finally died of suffocation, which lasted 4–6 hours.

The father and girlfriend said that the purpose of the procedure was to make the child calm down. According to his story, the father did not think that the temperature could rise inside the tarp. During the interrogations, the girlfriend said that she thought that she could get air through the open top of her head. According to the prosecutor, the little girl's way of psychologically surviving the nightly tyings that lasted for weeks was to escape into a fantasy world. She was wearing a princess tiara when she died.

Trial
On August 30, 2012, the proceedings of the case began in the Helsinki district court, where the father and his girlfriend were accused of assault, deprivation of liberty and murder. The girlfriend was also accused of giving a false identity. The prosecutor demanded a life sentence for the accused. The defendants admitted that they caused the girl's death, but denied that they were guilty of murder. The district court ordered them to undergo a mental state examination, where they were found guilty.

On March 19, 2013, the Helsinki District Court sentenced the child's father Touko Päiviö Tarki and his girlfriend Sirpa Helena Laamanen to life imprisonment in accordance with the prosecutor's demands. According to the court, they should have realized that blocking the child's airway would most likely lead to his death. The manner of the act was exceptional and caused great physical and mental suffering to the victim, and in addition, the act as a whole was outrageous.

The district court's verdict was appealed to the Helsinki Court of Appeal, which did not change the lower court's verdict. The convicts still applied for permission to appeal from the Supreme Court, which did not take the case into consideration. The life sentences of the Court of Appeal therefore remained permanent.