In the Khmelnytskyi region, a court terminated a couple's parental rights due to a threat to their infant's life
The Khmelnytskyi Court of Appeals upheld the complaint filed by child welfare authorities and terminated the parental rights of a couple from Starokostiantyniv, whose infant—who had been removed from their care—was admitted to the hospital with severe underweight and other health conditions. The appellate court overturned the local court’s decision—which had previously issued only a warning—and ordered the parents to pay child support.
The boy was removed from the family after his mother, while under the influence of alcohol, left him with strangers in dangerous conditions. During a hospital examination, the infant was diagnosed with acute atopic dermatitis, hip dysplasia, and grade II malnutrition with a body weight deficit of 21 percent. Subsequently, the city council’s executive committee filed a lawsuit to protect the child’s rights.
The Starokostiantyniv District Court initially denied the claim, but the child welfare agency appealed the decision. Representatives of the city council noted that the parents systematically abuse alcohol, lead an antisocial lifestyle, and have repeatedly been subject to administrative penalties. In addition, the boy’s mother had previously been deprived of her parental rights regarding her three older children. The child is currently in the care of a foster family.
The prosecutor’s office will appeal the verdict against the mother, whose six-month-old son weighed only 2.8 kg.
A 39-year-old resident of the Rivne district will stand trial on charges of human trafficking and selling PVP while involving her own children. According to the investigation, the woman agreed to hand over her 11-year-old daughter and two sons, ages 9 and 14, for 60,000 hryvnias to be used for begging in Kyiv, and law enforcement officers detained her after she received 30,000 hryvnias.
