Two-year-old boy hanging from his mother from the seventh-floor balcony: "It's for his education"

A two-year-old child was held “dangling”, head down over the railing of a balcony on the seventh floor. Supporting him, by a single ankle, was the hand of his mother.  Crucial was the promptness of a neighbor, leaning out from the building across the street, who raised the alarm by calling 112.

The report was received by the “Madonna di Campagna” police station, from which a patrol was dispatched in record time. When the officers reached the apartment, the fall had been averted, but investigations immediately began: the woman was identified, reported, and taken to the police station for the necessary procedures.

The initial hypothesis of attempted murder was subsequently reclassified. In light of the testimonies, the absence of injuries on the child, and the assessment of a possible “corrective” intent, the Prosecutor's Office downgraded the charge to “abuse of correctional means”. 

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the woman did not intend to throw her son into the void, but rather to scare him as a form of punishment. Nonetheless, the fact remains that using the threat of a fall into the void as an educational tool constitutes a very serious act that put the child's life in concrete danger.

The investigation continues to accurately outline the family context, the motivations, and the individual responsibilities.