Lebanese TV host and activist Joe Maalouf has been following the case of a 7-month-old baby whose mother has been beating and abusing him.
The baby was recently transported to Al-Rassoul Al-Azam Hospital after suffering a broken skull and brain hemorrhage due to the beatings.
Maalouf announced on Tuesday via social media that, after being informed of the infant’s condition, he contacted Juvenile Court Judge Joelle Abou Haidar about the incident.
He said Judge Abou Haidar immediately commenced investigations and legal measures and considered that the baby and his older brother were prone to danger from their violent mother.
Consequently, the judge prohibited the mother from seeing or contacting her children under any circumstance, setting a 30-million-pound fine for every violation of the decision.
The decision was based on evidence that the mother had repeatedly assaulted her children and tried to choke the baby several times a few months ago, which the children’s father confirmed.
Judge Abou Haidar also referred the mother to the Public Prosecution and tasked a social worker to immediately head to the hospital and inform its staff not to hand the abused baby over to anyone.
Maalouf said protecting children from all types of abuse “is a red line.”
He noted that the increase in the rates of these crimes during this period “portends the seriousness of their conditions and the urgent need to inform” him of any such incident so he can intervene and the authorities “in holding the perpetrators accountable and protect children.”
Joe Maalouf is a Human Rights Activist and has intervened in various cases as the head of the NGO Dignity, notably most recently the case of the mother in a coma whose infant was kidnapped. His Helpline is 78 999 966.
