Dubai: An unmarried mother lost her appeal on Wednesday and will spend a year in jail for burying her baby in a shoebox on the beach.

The 30-year-old Filipina cleaner, J.A., was said to have had a relationship with a fellow countryman that led to her getting pregnant.

Her newborn daughter, who was born prematurely, was seriously ill and J.A. said her daughter died because she could not afford the Dh26,000 needed to admit her to hospital.

The Dubai Appeal Court upheld the one-year jail term against the defendant.

Presiding judge Saeed Salem Bin Sarm rejected prosecutors’ appeal to stiffen the punishment and refused J.A.’s appeal to reduce her punishment. “She will be deported following the completion of her punishment,” he said.

Innocent plea

“I did not endanger her life… but I could not afford the overpriced medical fees to admit her to hospital. When she died, we [J.A. and her lover] buried her at Jumeirah open beach,” the Filipina told the court when she entered an innocent plea.

The defendant is expected to be released and deported soon since she has been in custody since April.

In an earlier hearing before the appeal court, J.A. said she did her best to provide her daughter with proper care.

Court records said her baby died one day after J.A. failed to provide her with proper medical care.

J.A. was found guilty of having sex outside marriage with her boyfriend, endangering the life of her baby and then burying her in a shoebox on the beach.

The Filipina said she and her boyfriend were asked to pay Dh26,000 for the baby to be admitted to hospital.

Premature baby

The defendant gave birth to a premature baby girl on January 1. The baby fell ill on January 2 and died shortly after that.

J.A., who worked as a cleaner at the Union Coop, confessed that she had unmarried sex that resulted in her getting pregnant. A Filipina co-worker, D.S., said J.A. told her that she was pregnant in December.

Records said the baby died at 7am and the defendants buried her at 7pm.

A Pakistani policeman testified that a lifeguard picked up the baby’s body from the sea at around 11.30am on January 11.