Malaysian student sentenced to life for newborn murder
A Malaysian student, Jia Xin Teo, hid her child's body in a cereal box, then placed it in a plastic bag and concealed it in a suitcase, where it remained for two days. She thought no one would find out she had been pregnant. A British court sentenced the 22-year-old to life imprisonment.
Jia Xin Teo, a 22-year-old student, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of murdering her own newborn. Teo gave birth to a healthy baby girl on March 4, but after the birth, she placed the child in a cereal box.
She then wrapped the box in a plastic bag and hid the newborn’s body in a suitcase, where the child remained for two days. The girl died.
She concealed her pregnancy and killed the newborn
The woman from Malaysia kept her pregnancy a secret from everyone. Eventually, she went to a British hospital on March 6, realizing that at that point, her child "was no longer alive." The police were called to her apartment when doctors noticed signs of childbirth, even though Teo denied ever being pregnant.
According to "The Sun," during the trial at the crown court in Warwickshire in the UK, which concluded on October 24, Jia Xin Teo admitted that she heard voices ordering her to kill or harm the child. However, the court did not believe this version of events, stating that Teo must have been aware of the consequences of her actions.
In his statement, the judge emphasized that the 22-year-old knew that by placing the child in a plastic bag, she was sentencing it to death. Furthermore, by attempting to conceal the body in a cereal box, she hoped that no one would ever find it.
"I am sure that your child lived for more than four hours before you killed her. You decided to give birth on your own because you were determined that no one would know you were pregnant. [...] You decided you would dispose of your child as soon as she was born, and then no one would ever find out that you had given birth," the judge said, as quoted by "The Sun."
The 22-year-old Teo was sentenced to life imprisonment. According to the court's decision, she will have to spend at least 17 years behind bars, after which she will have the opportunity to apply for early release.
