The mother of a girl approximately three years old, who was abandoned in a baby stroller early Thursday morning near the Entrecampos train station in Lisbon, has been named as a suspect after being questioned by authorities. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has also been informed of the case.
The girl was found by a passerby who alerted authorities at 6:10 AM after witnessing someone leave a baby stroller on Avenida 5 de Outubro, near Entrecampos station, and then abandon the scene.
Police began their investigation to identify who abandoned the girl, collecting video surveillance footage from various establishments near the location.
About three hours later, at 9:30 AM, it was discovered that the child had been left by her mother. The woman was found “visibly intoxicated in public” and was subsequently taken to a PSP police station in Penha de França.
During questioning at the PSP, the mother’s speech was “not incoherent” but she presented “disparate ideas each time she spoke,” initially claiming that the child had been kidnapped, according to a police source. The woman, originally from São Tomé and Príncipe and “around 25 years old,” may face charges of child exposure or abandonment.
The girl will now “be removed from her mother’s custody” under Article 91 of the law for the protection of children and young people in danger, “since the mother is not suitable to keep the child and there are no known relatives.”
[News updated at 17:18]
