Kipseli baby: Drug administration scenario – lawyer seeks psychiatric evaluation
Police officials are examining the possibility that the parents administered drugs to the infant to stop it from crying. The couple's lawyer is requesting a psychiatric evaluation.
Drugs given to baby to stop crying – scenario police are examining
According to Newsit.gr, police officials are examining the possibility that the 43-year-old and 38-year-old German woman administered narcotic substances to their infant to stop it from crying. The Kipseli case – in which the two parents are alleged to have placed their dead eight-month-old son in a freezer and subsequently in a suitcase – continues to cause shock.
Authorities are continuing to gather evidence, focusing on the statements of three minor children to clarify the timeline of the homicide.
Withdrawal syndrome symptoms in the parents
The two defendants told authorities that the infant had serious health problems from the outset and cried incessantly. The symptoms exhibited by the 43-year-old and 38-year-old, according to investigative sources, point to withdrawal syndrome – a possibility that cannot be ruled out, as both were chronic substance users.
"They deny killing the baby" – what the lawyer says
The couple's lawyer, Christos Psarras, spoke to Ertnews and insisted that his clients categorically deny killing the child, arguing that it died of natural causes. Regarding the ante-mortem knife wounds detected by the coroner on the baby's body, Psarras cites an explanation from the defendants themselves: they claim the injuries were caused in their attempt to break the ice. The question of why they did not immediately call a doctor remains unanswered.
According to Psarras, the parents admitted they made many mistakes and that they were bad parents. They also claim that they froze the body because they could not part with the child, and that they made every effort to revive it, without success.
The lawyer requested that the couple undergo psychiatric evaluation, estimating that they suffer from conditions that affect them neurologically and that render them incapable of functioning according to the rules of society.
The three minor children
In addition to the dead infant, the family includes a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old who is pregnant – allegedly carrying a child with an Afghan man who lived in the same house. A 9-year-old boy is attributed to the German woman, despite her claims regarding his paternity. All three minor children are in a safe place under state care, according to Psarras. The 15-year-old has also exhibited withdrawal syndrome. The mental health status of all three children remains unknown, whilst in the past complaints had been filed regarding dangerous living conditions in the house.
Neonatal withdrawal syndrome: what science explains
Behind the persistent crying and other problems the infant is alleged to have experienced, specialists do not rule out serious medical causes. Dimitra Metallinous, assistant professor of Obstetrics at the University of West Attica, explained on Live News:
"Neonatal withdrawal syndrome is a set of symptoms exhibited by a newborn when it has been exposed in utero to substances and medications that can cause dependence. They are transferred via the placenta."
This possibility takes on particular significance in the case, as the mother has admitted that she is a chronic substance user. If the infant indeed suffered from neonatal withdrawal syndrome, this has not been confirmed and is expected to be investigated through the necessary medical examinations.
The symptoms of the syndrome, as described by Metallinous, include "acute crying, tremor, increased muscle tone, difficulty sleeping, vomiting, diarrhoea, difficulty feeding." Some of these – difficulty feeding, intestinal problems, vomiting and prolonged crying – coincide with what the parents stated the infant experienced, in contrast with the coroner's findings of multiple knife wounds.
Source: Newsit.gr