Sharjah: A 30-year-old Ethiopian woman was arrested in Al Qasimi Hospital on Thursday after she confessed that her newborn baby is illegitimate and she is an illegal maid, an official at Sharjah Police told Gulf News on Saturday

The woman admitted to the hospital on Thursday after she went into labour, police said.

Soon after the baby’s birth, the hospital contacted police to inform them that an unmarried woman had given birth on their premises.

The police said the hospital should have informed them immediately. “They should not accept such cases of unmarried pregnant women,” police said.

“She was in labour so she was admitted immediately,” a hospital spokesman explained. He said there was no time to inform the police.

The woman was taken to Al Qasimi Hospital on Thursday and later transferred to a jail in Sharjah on Saturday. Her baby boy will be kept in the nursery of the jail and the woman will visit her baby to breastfeed him, the official said

The case has been referred to the public prosecutor for further investigation