Mother of dead infant undergoing psychiatric evaluation

The mother of the infant who died at the Nicosia general hospital last week is being evaluated by psychiatric services on Tuesday.

The evaluation of the 21-year-old woman by a government psychiatrist is part of the case which is being investigated as a possible homicide.

The three-and-a half-month-old little girl had been living in Lakatamia with her mother and her 23-year-old father, where it is believed she was criminally neglected.

The case came to light on July 28 when police were informed by the hospital’s staff that a three-month-old, who had been transferred by ambulance to the A&E, had died.

The baby bore marks of insect bites and neglect.

Nicosia CID is evaluating information about the child’s parents, a Greek mother and Pakistani father, according to a report in Philenews.

Nicosia CID intended to issue an international arrest warrant against the mother but instead were able to locate her in Thessaloniki, where she is from, and reach an agreement with her, according to the daily.

The woman retuned voluntarily to Cyprus via Larnaca airport on Saturday, where she was arrested and subsequently remanded for eight days by the Nicosia district court on Sunday.

In her testimony, she gave her own version of events prior to her departure for Thessaloniki.

The 23-year-old father had initially claimed that the mother had abandoned the child two days before the incident to search for work in Salonica, however police found that she had left the house on the day the infant died.

Investigators searched their house and did not find any indication of proper childcare, such as available milk and nappies.

There also appears to be no record of the birth.

The infant and her parents lived in a five-bedroom house rented out to foreign workers.

Living conditions were deemed unsuitable, not only for an infant, but for adults as well.

Investigations by the Nicosia CID are ongoing.