A domestic helper from Indonesia has been jailed for six months for flushing a fetus down a public toilet at a North Point market, according to reports.
The 34-year-old woman, identified as Suwasti, was arrested in November after plumbers called in to unblock a toilet made the grim discovery at the Java Road Market early that month.
According to RTHK, the domestic worker had pleaded guilty to concealing the premature birth of the girl, about six months into her pregnancy.
In mitigation, Suwasti’s lawyer argued that she committed the crime after listening to her boyfriend, Headline Daily reported.
They also argued that she was under pressure at the time, did not have a prior criminal record and was unlikely to reoffend.
The judge handed down a six-month sentence, far below the maximum penalty for concealing the birth of a child, which can carry a sentence of up to two years in prison, according to the Offences Against the Person Ordinance.
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