Maid on trial for killing illegitimate newborn in Dubai

Dubai: A maid, who is accused of premeditatedly killing her illegitimate newborn, told a court on Sunday that she threw him in the garbage skip because she didn’t want him.

“I did not intend to kill the baby, but I just did not want him,” argued the 31-year-old Indonesian woman, S.S., when she refuted the charge of intentionally killing her son before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

The suspect had an affair with an Asian man and got pregnant in 2014. Following an unsuccessful abortion bid, S.S. delivered the child and then got rid of her baby by wrapping him in cloth, putting him a garbage bag and throwing him away in February 2015.

Records said two cleaners discovered the baby in the garbage disposal. The baby was still breathing and they called the police to Al Barsha area.

Prosecutors accused the defendant of premeditatedly killing the illegitimate baby by wrapping him in cloth, beating him and throwing him in the garbage container. She was also accused of having unmarried sex.

“Why did you kill the baby?” presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi asked the suspect in court.

“After I delivered the baby, I wrapped him in a cloth and put him in a garbage bag and then threw him in the skip. I did not intend to kill him … I just did not want him,” contended the suspect.

“Why did you do so? Did you intend to kill him or you did not want him?” the judge asked her again.

“I did not want him,” replied S.S. in weak Arabic.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors said the defendant had planned to get rid of her baby immediately after delivery.

Dubai Police’s forensic examination report confirmed that the newborn was killed and did not die of natural causes.

One of the Indian cleaners [who found the baby’s body] claimed to prosecutors that he and his co-worker heard a whining sound while emptying a garbage skip at 11.30pm.

“Firstly we thought it was an injured cat … then when we removed the sack, we found the baby that was still breathing. We called the police instantly,” he claimed.

A police lieutenant testified to prosecutors that primary interrogations unveiled that S.S. had thrown away the newborn.

“An ambulance car rushed the newborn to the hospital where he died shortly after arrival. S.S. was arrested and, when questioned, she admitted that she became pregnant following an illegal affair that she had with the Asian man in his flat in Satwa. She alleged that the first time she drank an energy drink and took it with Panadol but her bid to get rid of her baby failed. Then she delivered the baby in her Saudi sponsor’s washroom. S.S. also claimed that the umbilical cord got disconnected on its own … then she wrapped the boy and beat him before putting his body in a bag and then throwing him in the garbage skip,” claimed the lieutenant.