Mama who pretended to have found her newborn baby at cemetery should not go to cell (Merksem)
© ATV
The woman who came to give up her newborn baby in the hospital in March 2024 and pretended to have found the child at the cemetery in Merksem, has been sentenced to a punishment with a delay. If she is guided for her drug and psychological problems, she does not have to go to jail.
On March 12, 2024, a woman entered the Jan Palfijn Hospital in Merksem with a newborn baby on the arm. She stated that she had found the child at the cemetery in the municipal park. A few days later, the baby got Mayor Bart De Wever (N-VA) as guardian and was called Roos.
The research showed that the woman who brought in the child was not just a casual passer -by and that she had not found the child as she claimed. It turned out to be the girl’s mother, a DNA test shows. In her area, nobody had noticed that the woman was pregnant, not even her partner at the time. That man, the father of Roos, put himself a civil party in the case. She herself did not have noticed that she was pregnant, she said she could not remember the birth.
Doubt
A court psychiatrist was appointed to investigate the defendant. He referred to the fact that the defendant herself mentioned a ‘doubt’ whether the child was not of her, because she was aware of the womb, pain and bleeding. The expert described that from her intellectual capacities and earlier births, it can be assumed that the defendant was able to estimate the mother of the child and that she could have made this known in the hospital.
The mother was prosecuted for leaving her child, although she disputes that. The woman’s lawyer tried to explain to the court that she never left her child and immediately went to a hospital. The public prosecutor and the civil parties were of the opinion that the woman must have known that and gave birth to the child in a safe place in a hygienic environment. The public prosecutor progressed the suspension of punishment: it wanted to see the woman guilty, but did not think she should be punished.
Imprisonment with delay
The court ruled on Wednesday that the facts were proven. « In view of the medical findings about the condition of the baby, the statements of the child’s father, the statements of the defendant himself, the DNA match and the results of the expert investigation, » says the court. The woman is sentenced to six months in prison and a fine of 800 euros with delay, linked to probation conditions. « First of all, she must be treated for her psychological problems including her drug problem and secondly, she has to continue her studies and when they are completed, find work that is within her possibilities, » says the court.
The woman must pay compensation of 2,500 euros to the father of Baby Roos and a euro to the guardian ad hoc.
