‘Couple left five-month-old baby in car while they partied in nightclub’

A COUPLE from Limassol have been released after being charged with abandoning their five-month-old infant in their car while they were partying in a nightclub in the early morning hours of Monday.

Police were alerted to the incident around 3am, after concerned passers-by saw the baby girl crying inside the back of a car parked outside the nightclub. Officers of the Crime Prevention Unit arriving on the scene had to wait another half an hour for the parents to show up.

When they did, police arrested them on the spot for exposing the baby to danger. At that point, the husband, a 42-year-old Cypriot, reportedly became abusive and tried to assault the officers.
The man was reportedly drunk at the time.

The mother, a 38-year-old foreign national, acknowledged that they were at the nightclub but claimed she and her husband had taken turns checking on the baby every 10 minutes.

She was released from custody later in the day to be reunited with her daughter. However, Welfare Services have been notified and are looking into the case.

An administrative officer with the Welfare Bureau in Limassol yesterday confirmed to the Mail that a file had been opened, but was reluctant to comment further, citing the complexity of such cases.

She said that, under the law, the child could be taken into state care if gross negligence by the parents were established, but that it was “too early” at this stage to say if that would happen.
“It’s a delicate matter and we’re investigating all the parameters,” she added.

Meanwhile the father has also been released after being charged with assaulting a police officer.
Police said yesterday the trial date had not yet been set.