Ultra-Orthodox riot in Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh against autopsy on infant
13 held as roads blocked; police suspect baby grandson of Beit Shemesh mayor died after ‘shaking’ by carer, who denies any wrongdoing
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Police arrested 13 ultra-Orthodox protesters Thursday for rioting against the decision of a Jerusalem court to order an autopsy on a four-month-old infant, whose death overnight may have resulted from excessive shaking.
Rioters blocked roads, set trash cans on fire and threw stones at police officers in Jerusalem, where ten were arrested. In the city of Beit Shemesh, 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Jerusalem, three demonstrators were apprehended. The infant, Moshe Mizrachi, was the grandson of Beit Shemesh mayor Moshe Abutbul.
For religious reasons, many members of the ultra-Orthodox community believe the bodies of the deceased should not be tampered with, and generally oppose the conduct of autopsies except in extreme cases.
The baby’s family was to hear the results of its appeal to the Supreme Court on Thursday evening.
Before his death, the baby was hospitalized for a week at Hadassah Hospital, Ein Karem, after suffering from a blow to the head.
Police suspect he may have been shaken by the carer at the day center he attended and that he may have died as a result of negligence. They asked for an autopsy to be performed.
The carer, who was put under house arrest last week but released two days ago, on condition she keeps away from the day center, denies any connection to the tragedy and said that the baby went to sleep and woke up “groggy,” according to the Walla news site.
During her initial investigation, she reportedly told police that she had changed the baby’s diaper and that he had flipped over for the first time in his life and fallen.
During a second conversation with investigators, she reportedly said: “He was accepted into the kindergarten one and a half months ago. He was a lovely child. On the day of the incident, he had a slight temperature and his father took him from the kindergarten to the doctor, who decided to send him back to the kindergarten. He went to sleep and woke up groggy.”
Yehuda Shoshan, the carer’s lawyer, said his client denied any connection to abuse. From her point of view, the child was already weak when he arrived in the morning and his father took him to the doctor. After the doctor decided he could return to the day center, the child arrived “drowsy” and when he awoke, he was on the “verge of exhaustion.” His eyes were drooping and he did not communicate with the environment.
The carer did everything she could to get a response out of him, her lawyer went on, just as one would try to get a response from someone who had lost consciousness or had fainted. When she saw that she could do nothing to help, and there was no response from the child, she called an ambulance.
The lawyer said any links between the carer’s actions and the child’s death were far from proven. “On the contrary, at present, the investigation is tending towards the fact that the child arrived in a medical state that was not good, or was born with something, with some kind of defect, or that he got sick from an illness.”
