ATHENS, Greece — A crowd of angry protesters gathered outside a courthouse on the southern Greek island of Crete on Wednesday, ahead of a preliminary hearing for a couple accused of brutally abusing a 3-year-old child, who is currently fighting for his life in the hospital.
Riot police were stationed outside the courthouse to prevent the crowd from forcing their way into the building and confronting the accused as the hearing began. One person sustained minor facial injuries during the confrontation.
The couple, a 26-year-old woman and her 44-year-old partner, face charges after allegedly severely beating the woman’s young son, who was rushed to a hospital in Heraklion, the island’s main city, on Sunday. The case has sparked widespread outrage in Greece and garnered significant media attention.
The child suffered a traumatic head injury, along with multiple injuries to his limbs and torso, according to Stelios Kteniadakis, deputy director of Heraklion University General Hospital, speaking to Greece’s Skai television.
The boy, who is in critical condition and intubated in the intensive care unit, showed signs of both recent and older injuries, as well as burn marks, Kteniadakis reported. “Honestly, all of us doctors who have seen the child are in shock—we’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
The mother and her boyfriend, who have been in custody since their arrest on Sunday, appeared before a prosecutor on Wednesday. They are facing several charges, including attempted murder, grievous bodily harm, and endangerment of a minor. Greek law prohibits the publication of their names.
“This is a case that even the police officers are struggling to comprehend,” said Konstantina Dimoglidou, a Greek police spokeswoman, in an interview with Action24 TV. “I don’t think anyone in this country has ever seen a child suffer this much, so severely abused at such a young age.”
Reports indicate that the couple has blamed one another for the abuse, each denying responsibility for harming the child.