A housemaid has been accused of getting pregnant through an illicit relationship, and throwing her illegitimate child in a garbage bin after delivery.
Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance on Monday heard that the Bangladeshi woman delivered the baby at her home and threw it in the trash.
Prosecutors said the woman, who was working for a family that was not her sponsor, threw the baby in the garbage bin in a residential area of Abu Dhabi.
Officials said the woman had become pregnant during a relationship with a Bangladeshi man.
She secretly disposed of the child in an apparent attempt to avoid being caught and charged with having an illegal affair.
The woman reportedly avoided delivering from a hospital because doctors would have reported an unmarried woman who had given birth to a child.
Official court documents stated that the woman was arrested after residents found the child crying in the rubbish bin, after being dumped there by unidentified persons.
Police had detained the woman for questioning after some residents suspected she was pregnant.
The DNA test also confirmed she was the mother of the child.
Prosecutors charged the Bangladeshi woman with getting pregnant through an illicit relationship, attempting to kill her own baby when she threw him in the waste, and working for a person who was not her sponsor.
In court, the woman admitted to giving birth to the child after having illegal sex with her boyfriend, but she denied throwing the child away.
"I delivered the child by myself and inside the house where I stayed with some friends," she told court.
"I became unconscious after delivering the baby and I don't know how my child landed into the garbage bin," she said.
The man accused of getting the woman pregnant, and was also present in court, denied fathering the child despite DNA test results confirming he was the biological father of the baby boy.
The woman also denied knowing the Bangladeshi man stating the child belonged to a different man who is apparently outside the UAE.
She also asked the court to be allowed to see her child but the judge told her to put in her request through the public prosecution.
The judge adjourned the trial until April 24 for the woman to appoint a lawyer to represent her in future hearings.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com
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