Orthodox sources: Psychiatrist says 'starving mother' mentally healthy
Haredi sources: Evaluation shows charges against mother said to have starved son a 'blood libel'
Kobi Nahshoni • YnetA psychiatric evaluation showed that the haredi mother suspected of starving her child is mentally healthy and does not pose a risk to others, ultra-Orthodox sources said Wednesday night.
However, the psychiatrist who examined the mother, Dr. Yaakov Weil, refused to discuss the evaluation's results in a talk with Ynet. Earlier, when asked whether he formulated an opinion in the case, the psychiatrist said this kind of information was privileged.
The so-called "starving mother" will be brought to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court Thursday for a hearing on the terms of her house arrest.
While the suspect's relatives refused to address the issue before the evaluation is officially submitted, a close associate of the family hinted in a talk with Ynet that evaluation results prove that the woman is mentally healthy. Another close associate who is said to have seen the report told Ynet that the woman poses no danger whatsoever to her children, and that she is a completely normative individual.
"We are very satisfied and we believe that this is a harsh blow to the Prosecutor's Office and to police," he said.Members of the Eda Haredit sect who have been accompanying the mother's struggle said that the psychiatrist's report will prove her the case against her is a "blood libel." The sources expressed their hope that the court will release the woman immediately.
Meital Yasur Beit-Or contributed to the story
Here is the Jerusalem Post's report:
Haredi mother apparently fit for trial
THE JERUSALEM POSTThe psychiatrist who evaluated the Jerusalem haredi mother suspected of nearly starving her three-year-old son to death was expected to announce Thursday that she does not pose a threat to her two other children and is fit to stand trial.
According to various local media reports, Dr. Yaakov Weill, the psychiatrist appointed to evaluate her, was set to refute claims that the woman was suffering from Munchausen's-by-proxy.
The Jerusalem's Magistrate's Court will convene later Thursday to discuss the woman's house arrest conditions after the psychiatrist presents his findings.
The court placed the woman under house arrest last week on condition that she take the test, and her refusal to carry it out on Sunday put that agreement in jeopardy.
The woman eventually showed up for a series of psychiatric examinations which commenced on Tuesday night in the city's Arnona neighborhood. It came despite pressure from some members of the extremist Eda Haredit organization not to do so until she was allowed to meet with her children, or until her child was removed from Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Medical Center at Ein Kerem.
The mother, who is five months pregnant, is suspected of severely abusing her child for two years, until he weighed a mere 7 kilograms.
The hospital claims it has footage of the woman disconnecting her son's feeding tube.
Deputy Health Minister Ya'acov Litzman told Israel Radio on Thursday that if the woman is indeed deemed mentally stable, she shouldn't need to stand trial. Litzman said that a Health Ministry committee would examine the hospital's conduct in the case.
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch told a special Knesset hearing on Tuesday that 110 haredim had been arrested last week for allegedly taking part in violent protests over the woman's arrest, and that police had opened criminal files against 40 of them.
The protests have ebbed since the woman was released from police detention on Friday.
Etgar Lefkovits contributed to this report