Update (15 Feb): The police have reportedly arrested a 26-year-old Singapore woman they believe to be the mother of the abandoned baby boy, reports The Straits Times.
The arrest was made after officers looked through images and footage from police cameras and even CCTV provided by residents and businesses in the area.
The suspect is expected to be charged later today with exposure and abandonment of a child under 12 years old. If found guilty, she faces up to 7 years in jail, a fine, or both.
The cops are still investigating the identity of the child’s father.
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A miraculous but grisly find in the rubbish chute in Bedok has had the nation buckling down on a search for a newborn’s parents.
As the hunt continues, the baby – who was found alive in a tied plastic bag – will be placed in foster care.
We’ve compiled all the details that have been released on the story below, outlining the harrowing rescue & ongoing search for the child’s parents.
On Tuesday (7 Jan), a 24-year-old cleaner named Mr Patwari told Lianhe Zaobao that he thought he heard the “sound of a baby crying” when he opened a rubbish bin at Bedok in the morning.
In his words,
I thought I was hearing things at first but then I realised it was coming from the rubbish bin.
Desperately trying to locate the source of the baby’s cries, he rummaged through multiple trash bags in the container until he chanced upon a white plastic bag.
The bag was described to be tied up, limiting the newborn’s ability to breathe — so he quickly untied the bag.
A crying newborn baby boy with an intact umbilical cord was found within, bloodied but miraculously alive.
It is unknown how long the baby was within the plastic bag. But asphyxiation – suffocation from the lack of oxygen – in a regular adult human can take up to 30 seconds to set in.
Investigations are also trying to determine if the boy was placed in the rubbish bin or was delivered down the rubbish chute.
At around 9am, police were alerted to the incident and Mr Patwari swiftly told his supervisor about his find.
Authorities then embarked on a door-to-door search for the baby’s parents, searching the 13-floor residential building for clues on their whereabouts.
The New Paper also reports that vehicle owners at the nearby carpark were questioned as part of investigations.
Residents who took part in police interviews told the media that they weren’t aware of what was happening but hope that the baby’s parents would be located soon.
Armed with CCTV footage, some residents were shown videos by the police to see if they could identify possible parents of the child.
A housewife later testified that no “baby’s cries” or sounds of arguments were heard on the morning of the incident.
Furthermore, a concrete wall fixture at a nearby senior care centre may have made it harder for witnesses to make out relevant sounds, reports The New Paper.
As of 11pm last night, no suspects have been identified yet, in what is now a criminal case.
But if the child’s parents are found guilty of child abandonment charges, they could face up to 7 years’ jail and/or a fine.
Though rare, 21 abandoned babes were found from 2006 to 2015, according to The Straits Times.
Here are some helplines for young mothers who are unsure of what to do about impending pregnancies:
While we await the results of the investigations, the newborn may be placed in the care of a foster family after he is certified healthy.
For the life of the baby to have been preserved despite his close brush with death, Mr Patwari’s heroic actions definitely deserve to be praised.
We pray that the baby enjoys a swift recovery, and may he live a long, happy & fulfilling life despite his harrowing beginnings.
Featured image adapted from Google Maps and The Straits Times.
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