Justice Minister welcomes no prosecution for working mum

Justice Minister Emily Yiolitis took to social media to praise the Attorney General’s decision to suspend prosecution against a working mother who was arrested for leaving her three children at home alone.

She appeared in court this week facing abandonment and endangerment charges after leaving her children alone to go to work on Sunday.

The 35-year-old mother, living in Limassol, was arrested after law enforcement officers found her three children without adult supervision.

On Wednesday, Attorney General George Savvides decided to suspend prosecution against the mother after weighing up all the facts.

A concerned citizen had found a 7-year-old girl playing unsupervised at a local neighbourhood playground and took her to a police station.

Officers then located family members of the girl which led them to the girl’s home where they found the child’s siblings, a 2-year-old baby and a 13-year-old boy who was left in charge.

The mother could not afford a babysitter and had to go to work to support her children.

The Attorney General’s decision to suspend any prosecution came after the Justice Minister’s earlier intervention when she said that “no mother should have to choose between going to work and leaving her young children home alone”.

She said women often resort to the latter option under desperate circumstances.

“I hope reconciling work and motherhood will become a reality in our country,” Yiolitis said on Wednesday.

The government said it would help the woman with her child care situation and offer any other support she needed.