Serbian mother accused over accidental death of daughter granted six-month residence permit
A 54-year-old Serbian woman who was accused on Monday of accidentally causing the death of her 13-year-old daughter from carbon monoxide poisoning in Thessaloniki was granted a six-month reprieve from deportation by Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias on Tuesday.
The woman was charged with manslaughter through neglect on Monday after her teenage daughter died from inhaling noxious fumes from a makeshift stove the woman had been using to heat her Thessaloniki home, though a Thessaloniki prosecutor intervened and ordered that she not be held in custody. The woman was also ordered to leave the country within 30 days after police determined that she was in Greece illegally.
On Tuesday, Dendias responded to a public outcry over the decision and ordered that the unnamed woman, who has been living in Greece with her daughter for nearly a decade, be granted a six-month residence permit that will allow her to stay in the country. She has also been granted the right to apply for a renewal after its expiration.
According to sources, the woman is unemployed and was using a brazier to heat her home after the power was cut off as she owed 1,000 euros in unpaid bills. She is thought to have fainted before regaining consciousness long enough to call for help when she saw that her daughter was also unconscious.
The 54-year-old mother is due to take her daughter’s remains to Serbia for burial on Thursday. The Municipality of Thessaloniki has offered to pay for the transfer and the service.
