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A Philippine woman says she abandoned her newborn because she was ashamed, according to a lawmaker. (Associated Press) |
MANILA — A Philippine woman who acknowledged giving birth to a baby on a flight from the Middle East and then leaving him in the trash on the plane said she was raped by her employer, a lawmaker said yesterday.
The baby was found by a security guard at Manila’s airport Sunday in a trash bag unloaded from a Gulf Air flight from Bahrain. The trash apparently came from the plane’s bathroom.
Representative Lani Mercado said she met yesterday with the woman, who told her that she had been raped by her employer while working as a maid in Qatar and became pregnant. She said her employer’s wife then forced her to return home.
“She had labor pains in the plane,’’ Mercado said. “Then she gave birth.’’
Mercado said the woman told her she abandoned the baby because she was afraid of what her family would say.
The six-pound, nine-ounce baby — still attached to the placenta — was found in tissue paper. Officials said the baby, already bluish, may have died in a few minutes had he not been found. The baby, temporarily named George Francis after Gulf Air’s flight code GF, is now fine.
The mother could face criminal charges.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
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