Family of drowned baby appeals to High Court against autopsy

The family of a month-old baby who drowned in a hotel jacuzzi in the southern city of Ashdod appealed Wednesday to the Supreme Court to block police from performing an autopsy on the infant, as hard-line ultra-Orthodox protesters blocked roads and demonstrated for the third straight day against the plan.

The baby’s family said in the appeal that the planned autopsy, which is forbidden in most cases by Jewish law, constituted a “grave violation of the sanctity of the dead, is totally forbidden and a grave offense according to the Torah.”

The baby’s parents have been detained as suspects in the death and have had their remand extended. The mother is suspected of criminal wrongdoing, while the father is reportedly suspected of obstructing justice.

On Tuesday, the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court agreed to a police request to perform an autopsy on the baby. However, the judge ordered a 24-hour delay in order to allow the family to appeal to a higher court.

The appeal, filed by attorneys Itamar Ben Gvir and Moshe Elmaliah, charged that there is evidence regarding the cause of death even without the autopsy and alleged that police already know the cause.

The mother has claimed the baby slipped from her arms while she was bathing him in the family’s room in the Miami Hotel in Ashdod, where they were vacationing for the Passover holiday.

Further details of the investigation are under a court gag order.

The lawyers said that today there are alternative ways to inspect the body. Ben Gvir said he hopes the Supreme Court “will balance the different interests and also consider the sanctity of the dead. “This episode can be concluded by burying the infant without defiling his body.”

Dozens of protesters blocked roads in Beit Shemesh, where the baby’s family lives, on Wednesday afternoon in protest of the expected autopsy. Similar protests have been held in Jerusalem and Ashdod over the last two days.