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Author: Tsira Jgerenaia
Two people go up the stairs. A woman under the age of 50 dressed in black comes forward, a younger one follows behind her, somewhat shyly, with her eyes downcast. I introduce myself. I explain that I am a lawyer of a non-governmental organization and I can help them free of charge. The black-haired woman introduces me to the other one – she says her name is Alina and she cannot speak Georgian, so she followed me. Alina is not ethnically Georgian, she is a citizen of Georgia, she was born here. She has a 10-month-old son, a little boy. 4 months ago, her husband put Alina in the car, dropped her off at her mother’s house and told her that he will not see her son again.
Me: Where is the child now?
Woman in black: She is with her mother-in-law. Alina was breastfeeding the baby. We don’t know how that woman takes care of him. They don’t even have a house. The bank evicted the family and they live on the balcony.
Me: How… on the balcony?
Woman in black: on the balcony of the house, they have put up blankets like walls and they are there. They use the yard, cultivate the land, but not the house. Neither the kitchen nor the bathroom.
Me: Who else lives there?
Woman in black: The child’s father is not in Georgia, he works abroad. That man has 4 more children from his first wife. This mother-in-law also takes care of these children. How will she take care of them?! She is 72 years old.
Me: It turns out that five children are growing up on the balcony without their parents, with their 72-year-old grandmother?
Woman in black : Yes. Imagine the conditions. There is not even water.
I begin to explain that Alina is the child’s mother, that is, his legal representative and she has the right to bring her child, especially since the second parent and also the child’s legal representative are not present at all. I am asking if you they tried to bring their child back during these 4 months?
Woman in black: We couldn’t go there alone, there are all those relatives living around, who would take the child out for us? We saw the police, they sent us to social welfare. When we got there, the social worker let us go to the police again, and that’s how we go. Then my neighbor recommended you and I brought him, maybe you can help. This poor woman. She has not seen her child for 4 months, she does not know anything about her child. You probably understand, you will be a mother soon, – she says and looks at my growing belly.
Yes, I understand. It takes me seconds to imagine that my 6 month old son, who I don’t have yet but am expecting, could be away from me for 4 months. The baby has been torn from the mother and the mother is helpless. The law is on his side, morality is on his side, humanity is on his side, and still the mother is helpless.
I ask Alina: How was he treating you before? Is this the first time?
The woman in black explains that Alina is constantly abused by her husband. Alina sued a few months ago. This was followed by the abduction of the child.
I leave the room, explain the situation to the social worker of the organization and tell the women that we will now go to pick up the baby. Alina’s eyes are filled with tears, she doesn’t say anything. The woman in black asks if we can really bring the baby. I say we have to get to the ground first.
“We will do everything for it!” – says the social worker.
First we went to the police. We requested a female investigator. I go to the head of the department. I tell in detail what he already knows very well: I tell him that probably 5 children are in an environment dangerous for life and health; that Alina, here and now, is the only legal representative of the child and has the right to bring her child; that no one gave the grandmother the right not to give a child back to his mother. He smiles ironically while talking. He asks me where I got that children are in danger. I explain that 5 children live on the balcony of the house and the caretaker is only an elderly woman.
Head of the department: How do you know that this is true?
Me: Because I believe Alina.
Head of the department: Maybe they are lying to you?
Me: She is not lying to me. Let’s go and see the place. I will not leave this child there anyway. If you don’t come, I will go alone.
He realizes that he cannot get rid of me so easily and requests the involvement of the state guardianship body in the case. The state calls and summons a social worker, who arrives in 2 hours. It seems that everyone knows this story very well. I also see that they think we cannot bring the child. They do their duty, they are a little lazy.
We are going to the place. We and one police crew with a female investigator. The police ask me not to go into the house — the state social worker will go in and decide if the child is in danger, and therefore whether to remove the child. I agree. I’m waiting at the gate. Soon, children aged 10 to 15 will come out of the yard. 3 boys and 1 girl. They look at us very hostilely. I talked to the children. They don’t answer me yet, but soon they start talking to me. It turns out that they are half-siblings of Alina’s son, from the father’s side. A 13-year-old girl does not go to school for more than a year, she helps her grandmother take care of her baby.
I run out of patience and enter the yard. I see a one-story house with carpeted walls on the balcony. I go up the stairs. A state social worker is standing here holding some roses picked nearby, smelling them. In front of the carpeted walls is a blue tarpaulin that acts as a door and is now folded to the side. I can clearly see what is happening in the makeshift room. In the middle there are some wooden constructions with underlays. On one side there are dishes and kitchen utensils. That’s all. The yard is well-kept and cultivated, I can see the plants.
“Where is the child? Did you see the child?” — I ask the state social worker. She replies that she has not seen him. Now I ask my grandmother: “Where is the child?”
Grandma: He’s not here.
Me: What does it mean he is not? Did you hide him?
Grandma: No, he’s somewhere else.
Me: How do you manage to take care of so many children?
Grandmother: I am doing better than you!
Me: What do you feed the baby?
Grandma: What I eat.
Me: Do you feed your 10 month old what you eat?
Grandma: Yes, what then? That’s how I raised these too.
Me: Where are you going? There isn’t even water here, you probably can’t wash at all.
Grandma: What? I take him to the neighbor’s every day and I bathe him there.
“Do you understand all this?” – I ask the state social worker. She nods. She stands completely indifferent. She did not ask a single question. She didn’t even look at the carpeted room. I turn to my grandmother again: “Bring the child!”
Grandma: You want to take the baby away, don’t you? You can’t take him. My son will arrive in 4 months and he will do whatever he wants. Until then, the child will be with me.
I go to the police: “It seems that the child has injuries and that’s why they are hiding him. We have to start a criminal case”.
The child’s grandmother understands what I am saying and shouts: “What injuries? I will bring him now and show me where his injuries are!”
In 10 minutes, a 13-14-year-old boy brings a small, round boy. I approach the child, but they don’t let me near him. They show me from a distance that he has no injuries.
“What have you decided? Are you taking a baby?” — I ask the state social worker. She starts calling somewhere, talks for 10 minutes and then tells me that she is not going to take the child out.
Me: Why don’t you think that the child is in danger under these conditions? Did you understand what they said about bathing and eating, do you see the conditions?
” If nothing has happened in 4 months, nothing will happen in another 4 months” – answers the state social worker with an ironic smile – ” his father will arrive in 4 months and then we will decide”.
Me: These kids, none of them go to school, you know? Here, that little girl has not been to school for 1 year because of the fear of being kidnapped.
“Everyone here is like that” – she says this ironically.
I tell the police that now the mother will pick up the child and they are obliged to make sure that no one interferes with her. If they do not protect our safety, then I will call 112 and call another crew. I explain that Alina is the only legal representative of the child and wherever she is, she will take her child, and they are obliged to protect his safety.
The courtyard is gradually filled with people. They are relatives of Alina’s ex-husband. Children take stones in their hands. It seems to the police that they are afraid of escalation and expect physical resistance from these people. They ask me to wait for half an hour and call additional crews. Finally, I tell the grandmother that the child is being taken to the mother and she has no right to interfere with this. The woman starts screaming, cursing. Those gathered in the yard knelt down, gathered around the car. They still avoid approaching me, I am pregnant. The children’s grandmother calls her son and tells what is happening. A man calls one of the policemen in a few minutes. He asks that no one touch the child until his arrival. He fights, he curses. The policeman explains something, goes out of my sight, goes to the side, then brings the phone and talks to Alina’s husband.
This man making an ultimatum: “Let her take the child, she must take out the statement against me, otherwise she will not be able to take him anywhere!”. Alina’s husband is accused, according to the rules he should be in prison, but he is abroad and he dares to trade a child with me on the policeman’s phone. I ask the police, why is this happening? But they have no answer. Meanwhile, a social worker from our organization, surrounded by several policemen, takes the child out. I hand the baby to Alina sitting in the back seat of my car. I see a scene that I will never forget – how she quickly grabs the little boy in her heart and puts the almost dry nipple in his mouth, leaning forward and covering it with her whole body.
We leave peacefully, although a few stones still hit the car. It is late at night. We leave the investigator woman at the police building, who got into our car for safety. On the way, she tells us that he also has a 3-year-old son and gets out of the car in tears. She is also glad that Alina will sleep with her son today.