Illustration photo. (Credit: Didier Pallages/AFP)
BEIRUT — An abandoned infant girl was found on Wednesday near the village of Siblin in the Chouf region, south of Beirut, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The girl, whose age was not specified, was discovered in a pine forest along the old maritime road, facing the Sindbad restaurant. The Saadiyat police station has launched an investigation.
The infant has been transferred to a hospital in the region.
This new case of child abandonment adds to four others reported in Lebanon within a span of two weeks. Two infants were recently found successively in Tripoli, North Lebanon, and two others were abandoned together near Nahr Ibrahim, in the Jbeil district.
An official from the Ministry of Social Affairs told L’Orient Today that "when a child is found abandoned, the general prosecutor and juvenile judges open a case for judicial protection."
"The role of the ministry is to help find a secure place for the child and ensure that their rights are protected," the official explained.