Prosecutors in Miaoli County yesterday brought homicide charges against a woman for the alleged murder of her newborn son, whose decomposed body was found inside a plastic bag beside a temple.
Prosecutors indicted the 21-year-old woman surnamed Liu (劉) for allegedly drowning her son six days after he was born at an obstetrics clinic on Dec. 15 last year.
Local Household Registration Office officials visited Liu after she failed to report the birth within 60 days as required by law, prosecutor Chen Tsung-hao (陳宗豪) said.
Liu initially denied giving birth, saying that clinic staff operated on a tumor, but later during police questioning admitted to drowning the newborn in a sink at an Earth God temple near her home before throwing the body away in a nearby bush, prosecutors said.
Liu said that she had no way of making a living and could not raise the baby, as she tearfully apologized to her son, they said.
She also reported experiencing social stigma, as the baby was born out of wedlock, prosecutors added.
Investigators recovered the body on Monday, and a local court yesterday approved Liu’s detention while forensic doctors perform an autopsy and DNA test today.
Liu’s neighbors said that her father has problems with his eyesight and cannot earn much money working as a masseur, while her mother came from Indonesia and has only been able to take outside jobs in the past few years after her Chinese-language ability improved.
Police found that Liu had given birth three years ago and put the baby up for adoption.
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