ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A father is accused of stabbing his two-year-old son 26 times in Tuz Khurmatu, Salahadin province on Thursday.
“The problem started when the mother and father started arguing because the child was crying and did not settle. The father has wounded his two-year-old son and stabbed him 26 times with a knife,” Kawa Shekhani, security advisor to Salahaddin’s governor, told Rudaw.
“The child is two years old and is under medical supervision,” he added. “The culprit has been arrested at Hamurabi police station.”
Local police suspect that the father is addicted to narcotics.
According to a doctor at the hospital where the child was taken, the boy is unconscious due to a head concussion, has bleeding in his chest, and additional wounds on his limbs.
The family has other children who reportedly fled from the house during their parents’ argument.
According to the United Nations children’s organization UNICEF, there are “hundreds of thousands of children in Iraq” in need of protection from abuse and violence.
In July, the news of the death of a 9-year-old girl in Baghdad shocked the public when authorities announced that the young girl’s father and stepmother beat and tortured her to death.
As part of its efforts to build its child protection services, this week, the government opened 44 childcare units.
"These units will serve as strategic hubs for coordinating and enhancing child protection services, promoting safe environments, and supporting the holistic development of children and families,” said Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Ahmed al-Asadi.
Hiwa Hussamadin contributed to this report.
