Varanasi, India
Israeli toddler abandoned in India
2-year-old found alone in Varanasi after her parents were detained by local police three days ago. Child being cared for by Israeli tourist
A two-year-old Israeli girl with Israeli and Finnish citizenship was found alone on a street in the northern Indian city of Varanasi after her parents were detained by local police three days ago.
The child is currently being cared for by an Israeli tourist, Zohar Matalon, a kindergarten teacher from Ganei Tikva.
After discovering that the child's mother was Finnish and her father was Israeli, local authorities contacted the relevant embassies, who said they were looking into the matter.
According to Matalon's mother, Sarah, the child's Israeli grandfather and Finnish grandmother are currently making their way to India to pick her up.
"My daughter will continue to care for the child until the matter is resolved," she told Ynet.
According to the mother, Zohar Matalon was instructed to hand the toddler over to the first relative who appears, but said her daughter received a phone call from the child's grandmother in Finland begging her not to give the child to the Israeli grandfather.
"It isn’t fair that my daughter has to decide on her own who to give the child to," Sarah Matalon said, "she has already become attached to the girl, and there may be a custody battle."
