Maid gets life sentence for killing baby

SHE SUFFOCATED ILLEGITIMATE CHILD TO DEATH AFTER GIVING BIRTH IN WASHROOM

Amaid who suffocated her illegitimate baby to death shortly after giving birth to him in a washroom was sentenced to life after a court convicted her of premeditated murder yesterday.

The Filipina, 32, was living in the house of her sponsor’s sister in Al Nahda. She had gotten pregnant out of wedlock early in 2017.

In September 2017, the maid told her sponsor and her sister that she had a stomach ache, before locking herself in the washroom for nearly two hours. When she walked out, she was holding a plastic bag and had bloodstains on her clothes. She then collapsed on the couch after leaving the bag in the kitchen.

When the sponsor and her sister asked what was wrong, the maid claimed she was suffering from menstrual pain. As her condition worsened, they rushed her to hospital, where they were informed that she had delivered a baby.

When her health stabilised, the maid admitted to police that she had a baby out of wedlock and killed him. Investigators inspected the residence and found the plastic bag containing a foetus.

Records said the policeman who checked the bag found the newborn, who was not breathing, with a piece of cloth stuffed in his mouth.

Defendant found sane

Yesterday morning, the Dubai Court of First Instance jailed the woman for life. Presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi said she will be deported after her sentence is completed.

In a previous hearing, the judge had referred the accused to be examined by a special committee of psychiatrists. The Filipina defendant, who had pleaded not guilty, was found to be sane and accountable for her actions.

The Filipina’s sponsor testified in court, saying: “She remained in the washroom for nearly two hours. When she came out, she was carrying a bag that she put in the kitchen ... then she came and slept on the couch. When I realised she had been bleeding, I called an ambulance. In the hospital, emergency doctors told us that she had just given birth,” the sponsor said.

The primary judgement remains subject to appeal within 15 days.