A British immigrant convicted of killing her newborn daughter by crushing her skull was sentenced to two years of community service this week in court.
The Scottish Sun reports Babita Rai, 24, who immigrated from Nepal the same year as her child’s birth, was convicted of infanticide in the 2017 incident. This week, she was sentenced to two years of community service, a fine and rehabilitation after spending 385 days in jail awaiting her sentence, according to the report.
Rai gave birth to her daughter on May 15, 2017 behind a tree in Manor Park in Aldershot, Hampshire, the report states. Authorities said she crushed her daughter’s skull and then hid the baby; a gardener found the baby’s body four days later.
Authorities said the baby died after suffering “significant” fractures to her skull caused by multiple “deliberate” blows. An autopsy also found bleeding on the baby’s spine and brain. Prosecutors said the baby girl survived between two and 12 hours with her injuries before she died.
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Prosecutors said there is no way the baby could have sustained her injuries accidentally, according to the Daily Mail.
According to court testimony, Rai hid her pregnancy because she was not married and her family would have disapproved.
“[You were] living in a country that was not your home where you did not speak the language, where you were unable to access the services that are there to assist pregnant women and new mothers, and were wholly dependent on your family for whom this baby would have been regarded as a curse and not a blessing,” Justice Johnson said.
Lawyers for Rai also said she was suffering from PTSD at the time and cannot remember what happened the night she gave birth.
The jury did not convict her of murder based on the argument that her “mind was disturbed by not having fully recovered from the effect of giving birth.”
Afterward, Hampshire Police inspector Dave Storey told the Mirror that the case was “truly heartbreaking.”
Most countries have laws and resources to protect newborns from infanticide. In America, all 50 states have safe haven laws that allow mothers to safely surrender a newborn to authorities without fear of repercussions.
