Mother Flushes Newborn Baby Down Toilet After Giving Birth Inside Bathroom

A 28-year-old woman in Japan flushed her newborn baby down a toilet after giving birth inside a bathroom.

The incident took place on Sept. 17, local media reported Monday. The police arrested the Thai woman, identified as Penpanassak Supaporn, on suspicion of abandoning the body of her newborn son. The woman later admitted to the charges placed against her, Japan Today reported.

Supaporn said she gave birth to the infant in the toilet of her apartment in Shinjuku Ward, and added she was about 25 weeks pregnant at the time.

The incident came to light when other residents in the apartment building complained to the management their toilets weren’t working properly, following which a maintenance worker found the baby’s remains in the system. The boy’s body had the umbilical cord attached when the repairman found him Sunday.

The woman told investigators she was “upset after seeing blood and the body of the dead baby and flushed the toilet,” Japan Times reported.

The police said an autopsy will be conducted Tuesday to determine if the baby was stillborn or whether the child was alive at the time of birth. The woman has been staying in Japan since March last year. It remains unclear if she was a single mother. The woman had likely been renewing her visa status after arriving in the country on a short-term visa, authorities reportedly said.

The exact charges placed against the woman are yet to be made public.

In India, a 17-year-old girl was taken into custody in August after she tried to flush her newborn baby down a toilet of a private hospital. The incident took place in the southern state of Kerala. The hospital authorities said they were unaware the girl was pregnant. She had reportedly arrived at the hospital with her mother due to severe stomach pain. She then went to the bathroom and gave birth to the child there. "Since she is only 17, the case is registered under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act)," an official with the hospital said at the time.