Nicosia, CYPRUS: A Filipino woman, whose residence permit had expired and was fearing deportation, gave birth to a dead fetus and put it in a suitcase to be buried, Nicosia court heard on Tuesday before remanding her for eight days.
A 29-year-old Pakistani man believed to be living with the woman was remanded Wednesday for seven days, reported Cyprus Mail.
The 30-year-old Filipina was taken to hospital hemorrhaging and in an exhausted state on July 14. Following examinations, it was ascertained she had been carrying a child for 20 to 25 weeks and had given birth earlier that day, the report said.
The court was reportedly told that despite repeated questioning by doctors, the woman denied she had gone into labor and insisted that she had only been bleeding. She remained in hospital for treatment but it was not until July 18 that she finally admitted to doctors that she had been pregnant since January and had given birth the day she was brought to hospital. She said that the baby had been stillborn.
She was quoted as saying that she had placed the fetus in a suitcase and called a friend, asking him to bury it. She maintains she never told the friend what the suitcase contained.
Police were reportedly called in after this revelation and investigations began to locate both fetus and the person who had buried it; information the 30-year-old refused to give.
She told police she had not gone to hospital while pregnant because she feared being deported as her residence permit had expired.
On being discharged from hospital she was immediately arrested by police for concealing a birth and illegally residing on the island and brought before the court, the report highlighted.
According to the investigating officer, on the day she gave birth the woman had been discovered lying on the floor of the flat she lives in by two female friends she had called. They rushed her to the hospital, reported Cyprus Mail.
The officer told the court the suspect had said that the suitcase in which she had placed the fetus smelled very bad, and this led the friend she had asked to bury the suitcase to question its contents, but she had refused to tell him, the report said.
Police are now trying to locate the suitcase and the burial site.
