A mum is calling for justice a year after a man allegedly threw hot coffee on her baby in a “deliberate act of violence” at a Brisbane park.
The woman and her nine-month-old son, Luka, were having a picnic with a friend at Hanlon Park in Stones Corner last August when a man – believed to be a Chinese national – approached them before allegedly throwing a thermos of the liquid at the child.
The boy was taken to hospital with burns to his face and chest.
The man fled the country days later, hours before he was identified by police.
There is no formal extradition agreement between Australia and China.
In a statement posted to social media today, Luka’s mother said he had undergone eight surgeries since the “unthinkable act”.
“He’s received synthetic skin grafts, skin needling, and laser treatments for his burns,” she wrote.
“Every procedure is a painful reminder of what was done to him — and of the justice that still hasn’t come.”
Despite “everything he has endured and continues to endure”, she said her son – now two years old – is “healing with a spirit that amazes us every single day”.
She called for justice for Luka.
“That reality is as painful today as it was a year ago and is one of the hardest things to live with: knowing that the person who hurt our child walks free,” she wrote.
“Our legal systems and international relationships should protect victims and children, yet they have failed to do so.”
A spokesperson for the Queensland Police Service told ABC News that police remained “committed to securing justice for the victim and his family”.