The woman who was arrested in connection to the newborn baby found in a toilet tank this month has been charged.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Hong Kong Police Force said the 36-year-old suspect (previously stated to be 37 years old by authorities) was charged with infanticide.
The defendant is reported to be a former domestic worker from the Philippines. According to Apple Daily, she lived and worked at Lido Garden, an apartment complex in Sham Tseng.
In Tsuen Wan Magistrates’ Courts today, the prosecution said the suspect admitted under caution to giving birth in her employer’s apartment on March 21. However, the 36-year-old said that the boy’s heartbeat stopped within 15 minutes of his birth, Hong Kong Economic Times reported.
The defendant allegedly confessed to wrapping the baby, whose umbilical cord and placenta were still attached, in plastic bags and other material, then disposing of his body in the septic tank of a toilet in Chan Kee Square the next day.
The child’s body was found on April 4 by an employee of a pet shop in the shopping centre, on the same day that the suspect reportedly resigned from her job.
Police arrested the defendant in Central on Monday, after examining CCTV footage from Chan Kee Plaza. She was reportedly residing at a hostel in Cheung Sha Wan.
The case has been adjourned to May 12, pending a medical report to determine whether the 36-year-old was pregnant. In the meantime, she will remain in police custody.
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