Mum charged with trying to kill baby left in a drain
The week-old baby was in serious but stable condition yesterday in Westmead Children’s Hospital a day after cyclists found him in a 2.5m (8ft) deep drain beside a motorway in the Sydney suburb of Quakers Hill, said police.
He was malnourished and dehydrated but had no apparent physical injury.
His mother, Saifale Nai, did not appear in court to answer the attempted murder charge. Her lawyer did not enter a plea and the magistrate refused her bail.
Ms Nai will remain in custody until her next appearance in court on Friday. She would face a potential maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted.
“Police will allege the baby, believed to have been born on Monday [November 17], was placed into the drain on Tuesday,” police said.
Andrew Pesce, a gynecologist, obstetrician and former president of the Australian Medical Association, said such an ordeal could leave a newborn with long-term problems such as brain damage.
“I would have thought that it wouldn’t have been able to survive for much longer if it didn’t start getting fed,” he said.
He said healthy newborns have reserves to cope with relative malnutrition and often lose 10% of their birth weight because mothers can take a few days before producing sufficient milk.
It took six men to lift the 200kg (440lb) concrete lid that covered the drain, the Daily Telegraph said.
Police suspect the baby was squeezed through the drain’s narrow opening and dropped to the bottom.
