After a struggle: The State Attorney's Office announced today (Thursday) that it will reopen an investigation file against an Arab bus driver who left an ultra-Orthodox mother at the bus stop with her baby on the bus - and refused to stop his journey.
The baby's mother filed a police complaint at the time through attorney Haim Bleicher of Mehonu - but the case was closed. Attorney Bleicher filed an appeal against the decision and now, a year and a half later, the case has been reopened.
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In the appeal filed by Attorney Bleicher, the serious incident is described: "On 01.05.24, the appellant waited with her baby daughter, only 4 months old, for bus line 618 of the Tnufa company. The appellant began folding the stroller to put it in the trunk and handed the baby to a woman who offered her help. The woman boarded the bus with the baby while the appellant finished placing the stroller in the trunk and approached to board through the front door.
""Suddenly, without prior warning, the suspect driver closed the door and began to drive forward. The appellant knocked on the bus door with enormous pressure, while the bus passengers shouted at the driver to stop the bus, as the 4-month-old baby was without a mother.
""The woman holding the baby approached the driver and demanded that he stop the bus to wake her up and, unfortunately, stop so that she could get off with the baby to return her to her mother. The driver, callously and maliciously, continued driving despite the screams of the woman and the passengers.".
""The agitator - the mother of the baby who was left at the station, began to cry hysterically, while another woman called the police. The police managed to contact a company inspector who stopped the bus as it was leaving the city.
""A car brought the appellant to the bus while it was being delayed leaving the city. When the police asked the driver why he had acted that way, the driver became confused and claimed that he thought the woman with the baby was the baby's mother and was released to continue his journey.".
Attorney Bleicher tells Haredim 10: "The lives of many citizens are entrusted to the bus drivers. There is a need for close supervision of the drivers. A bus driver who acts as stated in the complaint is a dangerous driver, and his actions and motives for his actions must be thoroughly investigated in order to deter and prevent future disasters.".
