Woman, 22, who left baby in light shaft, to be charged with infanticide
A 22-year-old woman who on Wednesday was being treated for shock at the capital's Alexandra hospital after telling police she left her new-borb infant in the light shaft of the Athens apartment block where she lives is to face charges of infanticide.
According to investigators, the woman told police that she gave birth in the bathtub of her home in Nea Smyrni last Friday, used a pair of scissors to cut the umbilical cord herself and threw the placenta in the trash.
She subsequently wrapped the infant in a sheet and threw it down the apartment's light shaft, according to police who found the baby's body on Saturday.
A coroner concluded that the baby boy, which was found wrapped in a sheet with the umbilical cord still attached, probably died due to pathological causes following its abandonment.
According to a police investigation, the woman was a technical college student in Kalamata. She moved to Athens following her pregnancy to live with her mother though, it appears, she did not tell her about her pregnancy.
It was unclear when she would be charged with infanticide though sources indicated that a prosecutor or investigating magistrate might visit her in the hospital.
