Haredi protests set to resume over planned autopsies of babies who died at unlicensed daycare

Ultra-Orthodox protests are expected to resume today as an appeal was set to be heard against authorities’ plans to perform autopsies on the bodies of two babies who died in an overcrowded, unlicensed daycare center in Jerusalem yesterday.

The planned protests will come after rioting overnight in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh.

The parents of the two deceased babies oppose the procedure, as Orthodox Jews consider any tampering with a dead body a desecration, and the matter was brought before the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court. The judge ruled in favor of the authorities, but the babies’ parents, along with the ultra-Orthodox Zaka emergency service, announced their plan to appeal.

Medical officials have not yet determined the causes of death of 4-month-old Leah Goloventzitz and 6-month-old Aharon Katz, whose bodies were found on Monday morning, along with 53 other babies and toddlers with varying degrees of injuries at the Haredi daycare center.

The autopsies would help police investigators confirm their working theory that the two babies died of heat exhaustion and dehydration linked to a faulty heating system in the daycare facility, which operated out of several adjacent apartments on HaMem Gimel Street in the Romema neighborhood.

Two caregivers suspected in the deaths will appear at Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court today for a hearing on their detention. According to reports, the two are suspected of reckless homicide and negligence.