Parents face trial over death of premature baby buried near workplace

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

A premature baby who prosecutors say was denied medical care and later buried in a patch of ground near his parents’ workplace has become the centre of a criminal case now before Bahrain’s High Criminal Court.

Judges are expected to deliver a verdict on April 14 in the case involving an Asian couple accused of failing to protect their newborn child and concealing the infant’s death.

Prosecutors allege that the 35-year-old mother and 26-yearold father did not seek medical help when the baby was born prematurely at roughly six to seven months of pregnancy — a stage at which specialists say survival would normally require intensive medical care.

Neglect

Authorities say that neglect ultimately led to the child’s death, though not intentionally.

Also charged is a 39-year-old co-worker of the mother, accused of helping the parents bury the baby without notifying authorities before any official investigation could take place.

The woman and the mother also face separate charges of remaining in Bahrain illegally after failing to renew their residence permits.

Defence lawyers asked the court to acquit all three defendants. The mother did not attend the most recent hearing.

The case first came to light when a colleague who worked with the mother approached investigators.

Pregnant

The woman told police she had realised in mid-2025 that the mother was pregnant and later asked about the child.

In August, the mother reportedly told the colleague she had delivered a healthy baby.

But when the colleague returned in December carrying gifts for the child, she instead encountered the third defendant, who informed her that the baby had died.

According to the witness’s account, the infant died two days after birth and had been buried in an open area near the workplace.

Witness

The witness also told investigators that the mother had previously claimed the baby had been sent to her husband’s home country.

A police captain from the Capital Governorate Police Directorate testified that authorities received information indicating a baby had been buried in the Adhari area.

Investigators later questioned the couple and several co-workers, eventually locating the burial site and exhuming the remains.

Body

A forensic doctor who examined the body told the court the remains measured roughly 40 centimetres and showed signs consistent with a foetus of six to seven months’ gestation.

The body had decomposed significantly, making it impossible to determine the precise cause of death.

However, the umbilical cord had been cut and tied using non-medical thread, indicating that the birth likely occurred without medical supervision.

At that stage of development, the doctor said, a premature infant would normally require specialised treatment to survive.

The forensic doctor also said that, when the mother was examined by a specialist, it was found that her hymen was still intact and had been so for a long time, while there were also signs consistent with previous vaginal births, though their timing could not be fixed with certainty.

He added that there was nothing medically to rule out her having been pregnant at the time in question, and a separate forensic assessment placed the pregnancy at about six months to the start of the seventh month.

Role During questioning by prosecutors, the mother admitted her role and said the third defendant assisted with the burial while the father searched for a suitable place.

The father acknowledged involvement but claimed the two women carried out the burial themselves.

DNA testing later confirmed that the couple were the biological parents of the foetus.

The court is scheduled to deliver its ruling on April 14.