A woman was arrested in Taiwan last week after it was discovered that she dumped her baby into a garbage truck shortly after giving birth.
The 43-year-old woman, identified in Taiwanese news outlets as Ms Chen, claimed to have panicked after she gave birth to her daughter, whose body was found by sanitation workers in a garbage truck at the intersection of Zhonggang and Zhonghua streets in New Taipei City’s Xinzhuang District.
Ms Chen said she was unaware that she was pregnant.
In the early morning hours of Aug 12, after she experienced sharp stomach pains, she went to the bathroom. She added that the baby slipped out of her and was stillborn.
She then claims that she panicked, wrapped the baby with her placenta still attached in a plastic bag, and then brought her to a garbage truck.
The sanitation workers found the baby’s remains in the truck at around 6.50 am on Thursday morning (Aug 12), just before they were about to use a garbage crusher.
The workers immediately reported the incident to the police, who confirmed upon arrival that the infant was already dead.
The police then examined video footage from the dashcam of the truck and were able to identify Ms Chen, who had ridden a bicycle to the truck and dumped a bag full of garbage into it.
Within five hours of the discovery of the baby’s remains, the police tracked down Ms Chen at her home in Xinzhuang. By then, she was already at work at her office at Neihu.
The police went to the office and arrested Ms Chen around an hour later.
During questioning, Ms Chen, who is married and a mother of two, admitted that she threw her baby into the garbage truck while she was on her way to work that morning.
A forensic examination showed that Ms Chen had been seven months pregnant when she had given birth to her daughter. Taiwanese news reports said that an autopsy would determine whether the baby died before or after she was born.
If Ms Chen is convicted of having disposed of a dead body, she could face a sentence between six months and five years under Taiwanese law.
But if it is proven that she caused the death of her baby, she could be facing a life sentence.
Ms Chen’s husband has been quoted in the news as saying he was unaware that his wife was pregnant and had given birth, and added that the family was not in financial straits and could have raised the child.
He said he asked her around three months ago if she was pregnant, but his wife denied this.
She is currently out on bail. /TISG
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