Maid arrested from hospital after giving birth to illegitimate child

Ajman: A 30-year-old Indonesian woman was arrested from a hospital on Thursday after she confessed that her newborn baby was illegitimate and that she was an illegal resident, an Ajman Police official told Gulf News

The woman, who had been living in Al Qasimiya area in Sharjah, was admitted to the GMC Hospital in Ajman on March 26 with labour pains. Soon after the baby’s birth, the hospital contacted the police to inform them that an unmarried woman had given birth to a baby on their premises.

The police said the hospital should have informed them as soon as they admitted the patient. “They should not accept such cases of unmarried pregnant women,” police said.

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

The mother and her baby boy were on Thursday sent to the women’s section at the Punitive and Rehabilitation Establishments in Ajman. Her baby is being cared for in the prison nursery and she is allowed to breastfeed the baby, an official said, adding that the case has been referred to the public prosecution for further investigation.

In such cases, the woman and her partner face charges of adultery, which carries a sentence of one year in prison followed by deportation, in addition to a fine.