Custody fight over child, 6, who survived Italy cable crash

ROME – A six-year-old lad who was the sole subsister of a cablegram car clang this twelvemonth successful bluish Italy is astatine the halfway of a bitter custody conflict betwixt his maternal grandparents successful Israel and his paternal relatives successful Italy, who assertion the kid was flown without their support to Israel implicit the weekend.

Fourteen people, including Eitan Biran’s parents and younger sibling, died erstwhile the cablegram car slammed into a mountainside connected May 23 aft the cablegram broke. After the lad was released from a Turin infirmary pursuing weeks of attraction for captious injuries, Italian juvenile tribunal officials ruled that the kid could unrecorded with a paternal aunt adjacent Pavia, successful bluish Italy. But the aunt, Aya Biran, told reporters connected Sunday that the erstwhile day, Eitan’s maternal gramps took the lad connected an agreed-up time visit, past flew him without support to Israel.

She said the lad has been undergoing some carnal therapy and psychotherapy since his infirmary merchandise and was owed to person follow-up aesculapian visits this week, including 1 successful Turin.

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“His furniture is empty, his toys and apparel were near behind. His caller desk, schoolhouse backpack, notebooks, pencil lawsuit and books were ready” for his archetypal time of people connected Monday, she said.

The aunt contended that erstwhile the maternal gramps had travel to prime him up for an arranged sojourn connected Saturday morning, it was agreed that the lad would beryllium backmost by dinner. But aft Eitan didn't return, the aunt filed a constabulary study connected Saturday night, Italian quality study said.

The maternal gramps couldn’t instantly beryllium reached for comment. But a sister of Eitan's precocious parent denied that the lad was snatched distant from Italy.

“We did not abduct Eitan,'' Gali Peleg told vigor presumption 103 FM successful Israel. ”We volition not usage that word. What happened is that we brought Eitan home."

Gali Peleg wouldn't accidental precisely wherever the lad was, lone that helium had arrived connected Saturday. “We are caring for his affectional authorities and health."

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In Italy, Aya Biran told reporters the lad has Italian citizenship and had been surviving with his parents since erstwhile helium was a toddler successful Italy earlier the accident. It wasn’t instantly imaginable to corroborate if the kid besides had Israeli citizenship but helium reportedly had an Israeli passport.

The Italian overseas ministry wasn't instantly commenting connected the case.

The aunt successful Israel told the vigor presumption that the lad “screamed from excitement erstwhile helium saw us. He said, ‘I’m yet successful Israel.'' The aunt added that “everything we did was lone for the bully of the boy.”

Pavia prosecutors' offices were closed connected Sunday and investigators couldn't instantly beryllium reached for remark connected Italian quality reports that they were considering opening an probe into the case.

“I americium definite and afloat of hope” that Israeli and Italian authorities volition enactment unneurotic “to guarantee his instrumentality home” to Italy, Aya Biran told reporters.

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The Corriere della Sera paper quoted a paternal uncle, Or Nirko, arsenic saying Saturday that the Pelegs had the boy’s Israeli passport and had failed to springiness it to the paternal relatives contempt an Italian tribunal bid that they bash truthful by Aug. 30. Nirko was quoted arsenic saying that the boy's maternal grandparents had contended that if helium stayed successful Italy, "Eitan would person grown up without ties to his (Israeli) identity.’’

According to the paternal relatives, the maternal household had challenged successful Italian courts the custody statement that fto Eitan unrecorded with Biran, who is simply a doc with her ain children.

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Josef Federman contributed from Jerusalem.

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