A WOMAN from the Philippines was yesterday being questioned by Limassol Police, after a dead newborn baby was found wrapped in handtowels in her apartment.
According to a Limassol police spokesman last night, the 33-year-old woman denies the baby was hers, meaning police will have to await the results of a medical examination to prove she recently gave birth.
If she does turn out to be the mother, she will face charges of infanticide as the newborn was almost at full term at 36 weeks.
“As the newborn was quite advanced and fully formed, it is most possible that the 33-year-old will be charged with infanticide,” said the police spokesman.
He added that the Filipino woman was still being treated in hospital last night and was categorically denying the baby was hers.
“The pathologist will carry out tests to see if she is telling the truth, before investigations can proceed further,” said the spokesman.
The 33-year-old had been taken to Limassol General Hospital on Tuesday after her employers discovered she was bleeding heavily. She didn’t mention to doctors that she had been pregnant, nor that she had given birth.
The case came to light early yesterday afternoon, after police were called to the 33-year-old’s flat in the Limassol coastal area by a Vietnamese girl who had been cleaning at the time. She said she had found a newborn baby wrapped in handtowels.
State pathologist Nicolas Charalambous last night carried out a post-mortem and said the newborn’s organs had been taken for lab tests to determine whether the baby – a girl – was breathing when she was born or not.
Charalambous said the embryo had been around 36 to 37 weeks old at the time of birth, which is around eight months.
He added that the baby was fully formed, just two to three weeks before the pregnancy would have gone full term.
A conference was held at Limassol police HQ late last night to clarify whether the woman would be prosecuted on infanticide charges, as according to the law, the age of the embryo can substantiate the charge. But there will more news on that aspect today, once the medical examinations are complete.
As the police spokesman explained, both the baby and 33-year-old will be tested to see if their DNA matches.
The lab results are also expected to clarify if the baby was breathing when she was born and if so, the reasons why she stopped.
