Sharjah: Four mothers who abandoned their babies born out of wedlock are now in prison after police stepped in to track them down.
The four women have been charged with abandoning their newborns in various locations in Sharjah and will serve up to one year in jail followed by deportation.
But while incarcerated, they will care for their newborns who will accompany their mothers when they are sent by authorities back to their respective home countries.
In an interview, Lieutenant Colonel Dr Khalifa Kalander, Director of Buhairah Police, told Gulf News that when an abandoned baby is reported, police have the child taken to hospital for a check-up before it is handed over to health authorities for proper care until the mother can be found.
Babies are frequently abandoned in public places so they can be easily found, he said.
Abandonment in public was a common factor in all four recent cases in which mother and baby were reunited, he said.
In the first case, a newborn was placed on a chair in a private hospital before the person leaving him fled, the act was caught on CCTV and police managed to track down the man responsible.
When they arrived at the man’s apartment they found a woman with him. The couple confessed that they were the parents of the abandoned baby who was the result of an illicit affair.
In the second incident, a woman was taken to hospital because she was suffering from complications after giving birth. Police suspected the woman and carried out a DNA test on her, which showed she was related to a newborn who had been abandoned. She was later arrested after admitting she had abandoned her newborn in Sharjah.
Left on doorstep
The woman told police that she did not know what to do with the baby as she was not married.
In the third incident, an abandoned baby was placed in a box and left near a mosque.
Police investigations revealed that a woman who was pregnant was living in the area, she confessed that the baby was hers and she had had an illicit affair
In the fourth case a baby was found in a box on a doorstep. Police again tracked down the mother after hearing that a pregnant woman had been living in the area.
All four newborns were initially placed in the custody of Social Services, which takes care of children until their parents are found or looked after by families.
All women were charged with adultery, having sex outside wedlock and having illegitimate children as well endangering the lives’ of their babies. They have been sent to Sharjah Central Jail.
In such cases, the woman and her partner face charges of adultery, which on that charge alone, carries a sentence of one year in prison followed by deportation.
Sharia prohibits having children outside wedlock.
For Muslims, based on an understanding of the Quran and hadith, sexual relations are restricted between a wife and husband.
“Some babies are dumped in garbage containers or near them. Some are put in boxes near mosques or on doorsteps of houses,” Lieutenant Colonel Kalander said.
When a child is abandoned, police question private clinics in the emirate to find out if the delivery took place there. In some cases a woman gives birth after producing fake identification papers. She flees the hospital shortly after, leaving the baby behind.
Lieutenant Colonel Kalander said the UAE law protects abandoned children.
