Newborn baby thrown from fourth-floor balcony, teenage girl arrested

A 18-year-old girl was arrested for allegedly throwing a newborn baby from a residential unit on the fourth floor of a flat in Persiaran Mayang Pasir 5, Bayan Baru near here today.

Southwest district police chief Superintendent A.A. Anbalagan said the girl was arrested after police conducted a house-to-house inspection following the discovery of a newborn baby girl alive in a bag at the back of the flats.

"At about 8 am this morning, an occupant on the ground floor heard the thud of an object falling on the balcony canopy of his house before falling down, which led him to go out to inspect what was happening and finding the baby," he said here.

The individual then contacted the police and a police and medical team went to the scene and an examination of the baby found injuries on the head, he added.

The baby was then taken to Penang Hospital and police launched a house-to-house search before arresting the teenager who lived with her family after she was found in a suspicious circumstances, said Anbalagan.

He said according to preliminary investigations, the teenager who worked at a restaurant confessed to giving birth to the baby at 7 am in the bathroom and allegedly threw the baby off the balcony of the house because she did not want her family to know about it.

"At the time of the incident her parents were not home because they were in Kelantan and there were only two her teenage siblings, but they were unaware of the incident and her family members did not know she was pregnant," he said.

He said police are now tracking a 18-year-old boy, believed to be the girl's boyfriend and the father of the baby.

The case is being investigated under Section 317 of the Penal Code for concealing the birth.

-- BERNAMA