A Dubai-based housemaid has pleaded guilty to the murder of her child.
During her trial at the Court of First Instance on the 32-year-old Filipina told the judge that she had smothered her baby with a piece of cloth which she stuffed into his mouth.
The incident took place inside the toilet of her sponsor's sister's house in September.
The sponsor's sister said that, "Around 1 am, I saw the accused exhausted and she told me it was because of her menstrual pain. She then went to the toilet and stayed there for about two hours. I knocked on the door to check on her several times but she did not open.
"When she got out later, she held a plastic bag which she put near the kitchen's door. She rushed to sit on a chair. I urged her to let me take her to a hospital as she looked quite tired and unwell but she would not let me. I could see she was bleeding a lot."
The witness added: "At 3 pm, we had to call an ambulance to take her to hospital. A doctor there told us the maid had just given birth and that was why she was bleeding."
A forensic expert determined that the baby was born healthy and alive, with the cause of death being heart and breathing failure due to suffocation.
A police lieutenant stated that upon arrival to the house, "We found blood all across the main room. There was a bag containing lots of women's clothes, and under the clothes was a dead newborn with a piece of cloth inside his mouth."