A 23-year-old Venezuelan woman, who allegedly claimed she found an abandoned baby on the side of the road in South Oropouche, is expected to appear in court today, after police determined that the newborn was, in fact, her own child.
Police confirmed that the woman, who lives in St Mary’s Village, is being charged with wasting police time by making a false report and with cruelty to a child.
The baby remains in the care of the Children’s Authority’s Child Protection Unit.
According to police, the woman arrived at the Oropouche Police Station on August 20 accompanied by a 47-year-old Trinidadian man. She was carrying a newborn girl wrapped in a blanket and placed inside a black plastic bag.
The woman allegedly told officers that shortly after midday, she was walking along St Mary’s Road, near the South Oropouche Government Primary School, when she heard a baby crying. She claimed she found the newborn, with the umbilical cord still attached, inside a black plastic bag that had been placed in a cardboard box on the roadside. She further reported that she took the baby to a nearby resident, who later accompanied her to the police station.
Officers subsequently took the newborn to the Point Fortin Area Hospital for medical attention, and the Children’s Authority was notified.
However, further investigations reportedly led police to conclude that the child was the woman’s baby, resulting in the charges against her. —Sascha Wilson
