Sharjah: Five absconded housemaids have been arrested over the death of a young mother whose body was found inside a house with her newborn baby in December.

The death of the woman was caused by bleeding linked to delivery, authorities say.

The Indonesian woman giving birth to her illegitimate baby boy died in her apartment in the Al Nassirayah area of Sharjah, and led to the arrests of the suspects, Sharjah Police have confirmed

A team from Hira police went to the scene of the incident to discover the dead woman and her baby alive but exhausted.

Prosecutors ordered the transfer of the baby to the hospital while the body of the dead woman was transferred to the forensic laboratory.

A police investigation revealed the five housemaids were connected to the cause of the death of the woman as they were not familiar with the right procedures to deliver a baby. They gave her medication to ease the delivery process but, police said, it caused negative effects.

The five housemaids have been referred to public prosecution.

An official at the Social Services Department in Sharjah who preferred not to be named told Gulf News that the baby was taken to the Royal Hospital in Sharjah where he received the necessary treatment until his condition improved and then he was handed over to the Social Service Department in Sharjah.

The baby is in good condition now and he was provided with good care in the Social Service Department, the official said.

The department will ask the public prosecution for authorisation to send the baby to his relatives in Indonesia along with the body of his mother.