A 24-year-old female was living in a tent with her 2 years old daughter. The child was taken to the hospital and the mother to a homeless shelter. The police investigate the circumstances of the case. The detained woman can now face up to 5 years of imprisonment in total.
The temperature outside is starting to drop. In such conditions, many people are exposed to loss of life or health due to hypothermia. This problem mainly affects the homeless, lonely, elderly and intoxicated people. Every day, police patrols pay special attention to people at risk of hypothermia. Police officers check vacant lots, abandoned garages and train stations, places where homeless people usually gather.
On November 21, the police seized the mother of 2 years old girl in Zaspa, one of the quarters of Gdańsk, Poland. In a tent, police officers identified a man and two women, including the 24-year-old mother of the child. The two-year-old looked chilled, wore a short-sleeved T-shirt and was inhaling cigarette smoke.
After the initial examination of the girl, the doctor found that she was cold, hungry and had an upper respiratory tract infection. Then, the child was taken to the hospital for further tests. After leaving the hospital, the girl will be placed in foster care.
At the same time, the mother of the two-year-old was taken into police custody. The government of Gdańsk proposed two offers of help. The first one will be in a critical intervention centre and the other in a shelter for the homeless. In addition, the rest of the identified people in the tent also would find help there.
Monika Chabior, Deputy Mayor of Gdańsk emphasized that the woman would be able to take advantage of comprehensive assistance at the emergency housing.
“We have psychological help, we also have a whole set of activation tools. Generally, in such situations, we try to conduct a kind of in-depth social work.”
said Monika Chabior, Deputy Mayor of Gdańsk.