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A Dubai court sentences a woman for two months in absentia for abandoning her baby in the hospital. Photo for illustrative purpose only. Image Credit: Shutterstock

Dubai: A Dubai-based woman has been sentenced to two months in jail for abandoning her newborn baby girl in a hospital here and fleeing to her home country.

The court sentenced the woman to two months in jail, in absentia, after she failed to appear for the hearing.

The Dubai Court of First Instance heard that the 38-year-old woman was charged with endangering the life of her newborn baby. The woman had delivered a baby girl in April last year at a hospital in Dubai. The baby was later moved to the intensive care unit for premature babies due to her life-threatening condition.

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According to an official at the hospital, the mother was authorised to leave the hospital on June 10, 2021. She returned to the hospital after three months, but, thereafter, abandoned her baby.

The hospital official reported the absence of the mother to Dubai Police and it was found that the mother had left the UAE on October 17, 2021. “She had endangered the life of her baby by leaving her in the hospital for no reason. We came to know only later on that she had left the country,” said the official on record.

Dubai Public Prosecution has charged the mother with endangering the life of her baby by abandoning her at the hospital. Records did not mention any reason why the woman abandoned her baby.