Woman Arrested After Dead Newborn Found In Etihad Plane Toilet

A 37-year-old woman was arrested after a new-born baby who was found dead in an aircraft toilet after the flight landed at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

The woman, who was identified as only Hani, is believed to have given birth to the baby during the Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi to Jakarta on Saturday, the Sun U.K. reported.

Jakarta Airport Police Chief Ahmad Yusef informed that Hani, a migrant worker from Cianjur in West Java who was working as a maid in Abu Dhabi for the last four years, was arrested soon after the flight reached the airport from Bangkok.

According to a report in Gulf Business, four hours after take-off from Abu Dhabi, Hani fell sick and started bleeding. Seeing her condition, the pilot diverted the plane to Bangkok, Thailand.

She was taken for medical treatment in Thailand but the body of the new-born was discovered only after the flight reached Indonesia. Later Hani was flown to Jakarta where she was arrested.

Yusef informed that ground cleaners found the body of a full-term baby wrapped in a plastic bag and kept inside a drawer in one of the plane’s toilets. However, the cause of death is yet to be determined.

According to various reports, Yusef said, “She didn’t look healthy and won’t be questioned until she is fit. The woman is now at the airport’s health centre.”

A crew member of Etihad Airways, Francesco Calore, said, “The woman was in economy class but then laid on a business-class seat with an oxygen mask. The captain then announced we should divert to Bangkok,” reported the Star Online.

According to reports, Hani was attended by a medical team after the flight landed at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

According to a report in Jakarta Post, the head of Jakarta's airport police's criminal division, Mirzal Maulana, said investigation in the case was still ongoing.

According to the Jakarta Post, Hani accepted that the baby was hers and she had left the new-born in the toilet bin. She claimed she took the step as the baby was a result of her extra-marital relationship with her employer in Abu Dhabi. It is also not confirmed if the baby was born alive or dead.

Hani is already married and has children in Cianjur, reported the Jakarta Post.

In a similar incident last year September, the body of a new-born baby was found in a waste bin in Bellville, Cape Town. Police officers in the South African city discovered the baby's body while on patrol at the Bellville public transport interchange. The officers were informed by the public about a suspicious bundle wrapped in a black sweater and thrown in the waste bin. When the officers unwrapped the bundle, they found a dead body of a full-term baby boy, reported Eyewitness News.