All news

Ombudsperson to challenge court ruling on mother abandoning child in Moscow region

The mother said she had intentionally abandoned the child "due to a difficult life situation"

MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. A mother abandoning her one-and-a-half-year-old son in an apartment building hallway was fined to the tune of 40,000 rubles ($581) and released from custody, the city court of Shchelkovo, the Moscow region, ruled on Tuesday.

The toddler was found by tenants of the apartment building on October 14. He was frightened and affected by cold. The boy was handed over to foster parents while search was underway for his mom. She was arrested on October 24. Tatyana Grinishak turned out to be a Ukrainian national and said during the questioning that she had intentionally abandoned the child "due to a difficult life situation".

"The issue of terminating parental rights will be considered at a court session on January 21," the press service of the Moscow region children’s ombudsperson said on Tuesday.

Children’s rights ombudsperson Kseniya Mishonova told TASS that she had personally met with Grinishak. She quoted the mother as saying the child was preventing her from living habitual life. Besides, she said the boy was suffering from several illnesses which necessitated serious attention. In view of this, the ombudsperson suggested that the mother sign a child abandonment document, to which she agreed.

However, the city court of Shchelkovo refused to look into the document and released the woman from custody. Now she has the right to get her son back from the foster parents, which she intends to do. Mishonova appealed to the Moscow region’s prosecutor’s office to protect the child, as it is in his interests to stay with the foster parents.

The ombudsperson told TASS that the prosecutor’s office can challenge the court decision in order to return Grinishak into custody pending the decision on termination of her parental rights.