FRENCH COPS PROBE MUM OVER SON’S ABUSE
She is being investigated for acts of torture and barbarity on a minor
THE Malaysian woman who is in police custody in Paris for allegedly scalding her 11-year-old son for refusing to dance is being investigated for “acts of torture and barbarity on a minor under 15 years of age by a parent” in French territory, said the Malaysian embassy in Paris, France.
According to sources from the embassy, which is liaising with the Minors’ Protection Brigade of the French Judicial Police, the 46-year-old, who had brought her son to take part in a dance performance in Paris, has not been charged yet “but the prosecutor ordered the opening of a judicial investigation for ‘acts of torture and barbarity on a minor under 15 years of age by a parent’ under Penal Code Articles 222-1 and 222-2 of the French law.
The embassy had received reports that the mother scalded her son in a hotel near Disneyland Paris on Dec 11.
“She is being investigated on the fact that she committed an offence in the French territory and will be judged for the acts done in France only,” said a statement from the embassy.
Reports based on the French newspaper, Le Parisian, said the boy had gone to the reception area of the Indagio Hotel on Dec 12 at 7.30pm.
It said when the mother came after the boy, he hid under the receptionist’s counter and rolled up his sleeves to show the receptionist the burn marks on his wrists, legs and buttocks.
“He explained (to the receptionist) in English that when he refused to dance, his mother boiled water to pour over him, said a witness.”
The hotel staff notified the police of the incident and the mother was arrested, and had been in police custody ever since. According to the embassy, she is in provisional detention.
“During the 48-hour police custody she had an appointed lawyer whose role was not to defend her but to make sure her rights were respected. She now has a different lawyer,” said embassy sources, adding that it could take months before she appeared in court.
The boy is being treated in hospital and was said to have suffered from third-degree burns from the incident, which allegedly happened at a hotel near Disneyland Paris before they moved to Indagio Hotel.
Malaysian Ambassador to France Datuk Ibrahim Abdulah is expected to visit the boy today.
“The mother is being held at an undisclosed location. While it is for her to decide whether she wants to see representatives from the embassy, it will submit a request from a judge to meet her as soon as possible,” said the embassy.
The embassy had received a call from the boy’s relative in Malaysia six hours after the arrest of the mother. While his family in Malaysia had been notified, it is not known whether permission will be granted to the father or any relatives to visit the boy, who will be in foster care when he is discharged from the hospital.
The mother is being held at an undisclosed location. The Malaysian embassy in Paris