A WOMAN who gave birth in secrecy at a farm in Famagusta was remanded for eight days yesterday suspected of concealing the birth and of manlaughter, after a state pathologist said a post mortem indicated the baby was born alive.
State pathologist Eleni Antoniou who did a post-mortem on Sunday said that there was reason to think the baby girl had been born alive.
“But it will only be clear whether this was the case after further tests,” Famagusta police spokesman George Economou said.
The 41-year-old Bulgarian woman was admitted to Famagusta general hospital in Paralimni on Saturday morning. She had been bleeding since Friday afternoon when she gave birth at a farm in Famagusta’s Sotira where she worked.
The woman eventually told doctors about the birth, adding the baby was born dead, and police found the body on Saturday evening, wrapped in towels among rubbish at the Sotira farm. The woman was arrested the same night – guarded in Famagusta hospital – in relation to concealing a birth, later adding manslaughter to the investigations, following the post-mortem.
The remand hearing took place in hospital yesterday with the woman reserving her right to silence. She is expected to be released from hospital today, while still on remand.
The 41-year-old woman arrived in Cyprus four months ago and has been working in Sotira.
Her employers told the police they were not aware of her pregnancy.