Accused mother asks for supervised visits

A mother who was remanded in custody on child abuse charges and ordered to stay away from her baby has asked for supervised visits.

(Click here for an update to the story)

According to local media, a 24-year-old female from Latvia was arrested in Limassol last week after her mother-in-law reported an incident alleging she was assaulted.

The woman and her 26-year-old Greek Cypriot husband, the complainant’s son, previously were visited by officers following reports of spousal abuse but the woman declined to talk to police.

Days later, the mother in law called the police over an alleged incident and the woman was called in to the station to answer to accusations of aggravated assault and destruction of property.

The woman, who was suspected along with her husband of assaulting the mother-in-law, was detained on child endangerment charges after police officers cited suspicions of child abuse. She was later jailed for a total of three days.

To date, there has been no official determination of child abuse, with reports pointing to suspected child neglect and endangerment following the complaint launched by the baby’s paternal grandmother.

State services said they forwarded the case to the labour minister, with officials citing reports of alleged spousal abuse and suspected child neglect still under investigation with no known conclusive evaluations up to date.

The two parents appeared before a Limassol district court judge last week where they were formally charged in a case of child endangerment and child neglect. The mother was ordered to report to police every day and the father every two days. Both have denied abusing their 19-month-old bay.

Both parents have also been issued a restraining order which forbids them from being within 500 metres of their baby. The mother has also been ordered to stay away from her mother-in-law.

But according to local media, the mother has filed a request with a family court judge to allow her to visit her child under supervision.

Reports said the baby is currently under the care of the grandmother, who was the person who filed charges against the baby’s mother.

The couple's arraignment hearing has been set for July 22.