Mother charged with killing newborn

A young unmarried mother has been arrested and charged with intentional homicide of her newborn infant, Southern Metropolis Daily reported on Tuesday.

Xiao Meng (an alias), a migrant worker in her 20s, gave birth to a baby girl in the bathroom of her company dormitory in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

The birth took place around midnight on March 31, during heavy rain, which muffled sounds. The baby fell into the toilet and Xiao cut the umbilical cord using scissors. She then pushed the flush button without thinking.

"She stopped crying, and I thought she must be dead," Xiao said, according to the report.

The panicked woman then put her baby into a garbage bag and threw the bag from her sixth-floor apartment. She said she regretted her actions when she heard the bag hit the ground.

A neighbor found the dead infant the following day on a balcony on the second floor.

The coroner's report confirmed that the cause of death was a fall from a great height.

Xiao said she found she was pregnant after breaking up with her boyfriend. She did not consult her family or the baby's father, and chose to hide her pregnancy, the report said.