Father arrested in occupied Famagusta for child abduction
A 26-year-old Turkish national has been arrested in the occupied area of Famagusta following the violent abduction of his two-year-old son from the mother's home in Apaisia, Limassol, on May 13. The child's mother, a 35-year-old British national, reported that the father and an accomplice broke into her residence, assaulted her, and fled with the toddler. A 53-year-old Turkish Cypriot man was subsequently arrested in Larnaca and remanded for eight days on charges including conspiracy to commit a felony, kidnapping, and assault. The 26-year-old father is currently held by authorities in the north, who have charged him with trespassing in a military zone and illegal border crossing. Social services in the north have placed the child temporarily under the care of his paternal grandmother. Authorities from the Republic of Cyprus have requested the handover of the father through the bi-communal technical committee on crime. The investigation remains ongoing as police look into the involvement of other potential suspects.