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A woman in Famagusta district could be in legal trouble after allegedly striking and threatening a young pupil, with reports suggesting the school mama waited outside her son’s primary after hearing about a physical altercation between the two boys.
Local media said police were pressing charges against a 34-year-old woman who is being accused of slapping a young boy last week outside an elementary school in Xylofagou, Famagusta district.
The alleged incident took place on Friday, according to Famagusta police spokesperson Steve Thedodoulou, who said in a statement that the father of the victim filed a complaint against the woman, accusing her of slapping his son in the face.
According to the father’s complaint, the woman slapped the boy in the face, threatened him, and caused a disturbance. The dad reportedly took his son to the Emergency Room at Famagusta General Hospital in Paralimni where the boy was medically examined and then released.
Police say the woman was purported to have admitted offences, which were understood to include the exercise of physical discipline on another parent's child
Police said the woman, who also gave a statement to an officer after the incident, was purported to have admitted a number of offences, which were understood to include the exercise of physical discipline on the man’s child.
Theodolou said the charges under investigation included aggravated assault, making a threat, and causing a disturbance, but the spokesperson also noted that the charge sheet could be modified pending further probe in the matter.
"Some charges may be taken off or there could be additional accusations as the case moves forward," he told Knews.
Unconfirmed media reports said the mother had heard about a fight between her son and the boy, prompting her to wait for both of them outside the school when she went to pick up her own child.
Theodoulou did not provide the age of the minors while it was not clear whether the two boys were classmates or even of the same age.
But he told Knews that police had no knowledge of any prior incident at the school involving the victim or the suspect's son, adding that any allegation of violence in a school setting was troubling, condemnable.
“Social welfare services and the administration at the school where the incident took place have been notified, and the probe is expected to go forward with their cooperation,” Theodoulou said in a statement.
Friday’s incident comes after seperate complaints were filed with police last month in other districts, including cases where alleged school violence, hazing, and bullying have been reported in junior and high schools.
Filtered videos of such incidents have also gone viral, including a case of another school mom in Limassol who attacked a male student in broad daylight after her daugther was said to have been the victim of intense bullying and the school did nothing to address the problem.
