A photograph of what appears to be neglect of an elderly woman in Israel made the rounds on social media on Tuesday, causing an outrage and leading to the detaining of the woman’s caregiver.

The photo shows an elderly woman sitting on a wheelchair outside in the scathing heat near Ayalon Mall in Ramat Gan, while her chair is tied to a fence.

“The elderly woman was left outside for over 40 minutes,” said Diklah Amram-Cohen, who found the woman and uploaded the photo to Facebook. “I walked into a nearby store and saw her caregiver, a foreign worker from the Philippines, shopping. She apologized, said ‘Sorry, sorry,’ and just went outside and took the woman quickly away.”
The Israel Police elected to open an investigation into the matter later on Wednesday. With the help of welfare workers in Ramat Gan, they were able to locate the elderly woman and her caregiver. The latter was detained for questioning, and the police have stated that they are in constant communication with the former’s family and welfare services.

The Population and Immigration Authority, contained within the Ministry of the Interior, has announced that, once it receives the caregiver’s details, it will begin proceedings to remove her from Israel. This was in response to instructions from Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri, who called for such proceedings Wednesday night. Deri said about the incident, “This is inhuman and shameful behavior.”

Oren Shay, a lawyer from the Public Defense Office who is representing the Filipina, said, “The caregiver denies all accusations and is cooperating with investigators. She claims that she did not tie the elderly woman at all and was close by the elderly woman at all times.”

@ ynet israel