Teenaged mom may be charged

The 14-year-old girl who buried her newborn baby alive in a two-foot deep grave in the New Grant forest, Princes Town, may be charged. Senior policemen told Newsday that though the baby boy miraculously survived, the teenaged mom could be charged with concealment of birth and attempted murder. “The baby could have suffocated. She is a minor but we have to look at consequences of her actions,” the policeman said. A 48-year-old man, who is allegedly the baby’s father, has since given police a statement and is likely to be charged with having sex with a minor, police sources said. Meanwhile, the baby was given the name Judah  by nurses at the San Fernando General Hospital. The nurses claimed that it is a miracle the baby was alive and in good health. However, he is being closely monitored in the intensive care unit.

Police sources said the baby’s mother is in a stable condition at the maternity unit and may be discharged soon. Whether or not the baby is to be returned to his mother and her family depends on the outcome of the Social Welfare Department’s investigations. The baby’s mother told police she was sorry for what she did and she wanted to keep her baby. The girl stopped attending secondary school in January because her mother could no longer afford to send her to school. She comes from a family of 12. Her mother is unemployed and her stepfather is a CEPEP worker. The shocking incident took place shortly after midday on Friday when the teenaged mom began experiencing labour pains at the home of a neighbour at Monkey Town Branch Trace, New Grant. The girl home-delivered the baby by herself in a bathroom outside the house.

Villager Sheldon Monsegue, was passing when he heard the baby’s cry and saw the infant in his mother’s arms as she stepped out of the bathroom. Monsegue ran to his mother’s home to inform her of what he saw. When they returned the teenaged girl and the baby were gone. The girl reportedly walked a mile into a forested area where she dug a hole, placed the crying baby in it and covered it up with burnt bamboo, soil and dried leaves. When she emerged from the bushes relatives questioned her but she kept denying that she gave birth. It was more than half an hour later when Monsegue and an EHS medical officer followed a trail of blood into the forest. After frantic searches, Monsegue heard the baby’s muffled cries coming from the earth. He rescued the naked baby and ran out of the forest. Sgt Renrick of the Princes Town Police Station is spearheading investigations.