(VIDEOS & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)
The Israeli police, backed by the State Prosecutor’s Office, asked the Ashkelon court Monday to send the body of the chareidi infant who had drowned in a hot tub in Ashdod for an autopsy in order to “understand the cause of death.”
The court decided to forbid the police from transferring the baby’s body to the autopsy but announced that he would continue discussing the issue tomorrow and delayed the release of the body for burial.
The police, for their part, delayed the interrogation of the bereaved parents of the toddler.
Meanwhile, dozens of chareidim began protesting in Jerusalem, protesting the intention to perform an autopsy on the body – in parallel with the activities of the Legal Department of ZAKA, which is used in such cases.
At first the protests were at Kikar Shabbos in Jerusalem, on Monday night and then moved to block the Bar-Lev Blvd. on the other side of the neighborhood.
The infant who died, Gavriel z”l, a member of a Jerusalem chassidish family, was a month old. It is reported the child slipped out of the mother’s arms into a jacuzzi hot tub in the Miami Hotel in Ashdod. It appears the infant ingested a quantity of water.
The hotel manager told reporters, “The family members were in shock. The father cried”. One of the persons involved in treating the infant reports the child lost consciousness after swallowing the water.
When it was learned police were seeking to perform an autopsy on the infant, the Eida Chareidit called to take to the streets in protest, which several hundred persons did. They blocked traffic and caused considerable delays for persons coming to and from the Kosel on Chol Hamoed. Police made a number of arrests.
Attorney Moshe Elmaliach of ZAKA’s legal department appeared before the Ashkelon Court in an effort to prevent an autopsy. The court ruled the matter would be adjudicated on Tuesday, preventing the release of the body for kvura and preventing the autopsy until the follow-up hearing.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem/Photo Credit:” “מחאות החרדים הקיצונים)
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12 Responses
It should be noted that Rav Shteinman Zatzal urged people to go protest against attempted autopsies, and this is a universal issue.
Ignorant savages and gangsters,it is high time the government take off their silk gloves when dealing with these barbarian savages gangsters and criminals,they need to be given long prison sentences including their traitorous leaders
if the police suspect foul-play, why would anyone not want the truth revealed? the demonstrators are not ohr la’goyim, but ohr le’taliban
In any other civilized country in the world if a one month old “slipped” from his mothers arms into a hot water jacuzzi or any other pool of water, of course an autopsy would be performed, if nothing else to see if there were any signs of trauma to the baby’s body aside of the apparent ingestion of hot water. Israel is not a country governed by halacha, so why should it be any different in Ashkelon?
Our bus got stuck in the protests in RBS B this morning. We were on the way to the kotel and had to turn around. Our day was wasted.
The goons stood in front of the bus so we couldn’t pass, and threw rocks at our bus. One of my kids was traumatized.
Murder is rare among the charedi population and so it is most likely that the police’s actions are adding horrible pain to the already bereaved parents. You can’t compare these holy Jews to other “civilized” countries where crime and murder is common.
If there were witnesses, the cause of death is obvious. Infants can drown very quickly. There is no need to do an autopsy as it would show what is already known.
So here are the “truths”that are going around – the mother suffered from PPD (in which case, why was she in a hot tub with an infant?)
The baby slipped out of the mother’s hands (if she was holding him, she could have caught him, she was right there)
And honestly, what mother takes a 1-month old into a hot tub? That is crazy.
What I think (not that it matters)? These are completely clueless parents who have no idea what to do and what is normal. We see that when under 5’s cross major roads alone every day. Was this their first child? Are they out of their teens?
I’m sure this was a horrible accident, but isn’t it about time these young parents are given mandatory parenting classes? Are they ever taught how to take care of children? It reminds me of a mother I know personally who almost starved her baby to death because she didn’t know to wash out the nipple from the baby’s bottle.
Some mothers don’t have the common sense or natural instinct to know how to take care of children, or how to raise them. So they need to be taught. It doesn’t mean they don’t love them, they just are hopelessly inadequate.
The Zionist reshoyim do not understand the voice of reason; they only understand the voice of protest and inconvenience.
Such vile hatred. It’s hard to believe that this is supposed to be a frum site. I want all if the haters here to learn a lesson in dan lekaf zechus.
Imagine for a moment that you were chas veshalom in such a situation, would you stop and say, hey, the police has reason to start an investigation. I’m sure everyone wants to know the truth.
Autopsies are a bizayon hameis, and I’m pretty sure it’s completely assur lehalacha.
By the way the parents do have another 7 year old kid.
The comments here are disgusting and show a strong lack of basic nosei beol.
In principal “hml” is basically correct. The whole story is too suspicious (but as a note, this is not their first child).
The absurd (and ignorant) comments like:
– ” Zionist reshoyim” (the protest blocking and even attacking CHILDREN included such places as Hareidi sections of Beit Shemsh)
– “dan lekaf zechus” – if you want to talk about it, then how about doing that for the police instead
– “the cause of death is obvious” – it is NOT obvious actually, with contradictory rumours running around (some site stalk about the child hitting its head on something)
– “Infants can drown very quickly. ” – this was a one-month old, which , to quote one science site “whose heads are submerged in water will naturally hold their breath. At the same time, their heart rates slow, helping them to conserve oxygen, and blood circulates primarily between their most vital organs, the heart and brain. The survival response keeps accidentally submerged babies alive”
Joseph, so the voice of reason is an unfortunate and sad situation of a “slip and death” in a Jacuzzi? Yes, murder is probably much less common amongst frum Jews, but that isn’t a legal or halachic precedent to fully 100% rule out certain behaviors. We also can’t say Mrs. XXX has other children, so she can’t possibly be involved in misbehavior. Autopsies are forbidden from the Torah, but (although I’m not a rabbi) there are certain situations where minimal level of incision and minimal invasion can perform the autopsy.
Ayeshivishguy, no one should ever experience the loss of a loved one. However, if there were an investigation on me in a situation, I would be confident and cooperative with law enforcement and legal authorities, knowing I am have nothing to hide. When I had a loved one who passed away naturally, the City had several forms and financial taxation questions to be addressed that day- yes, its irritating and didnt feel like the right place/time disrespectfully, but I understood it had to be done.