Girl charged with abandoning baby in Torre del Mar street

A 17-YEAR-OLD charged for abandoning her newborn baby in the street in Torre del Mar has been released from hospital. The girl, who apparently gave birth after hiding her pregnancy from her family out of fear, has been charged with abandoning a minor.

She gave birth alone in her house, but National Police arrested her older brother, 20, who allegedly helped her to abandon the baby. He was later set free with charges.

The young mother spent 24 hours in the Axarquia Regional Hospital after she was found as she required medical care due to the birth. She has now been handed over to the Minors’ Prosecutor.

The baby girl was found on Sunday by a teenage boy under a balcony, just metres from the entrance to an apartment building in Torre del Mar, naked, covered in blood, with the umbilical cord and placenta still attached. A dress covered in blood was found near her. Several people, including the brother who has now been charged, raised the alarm, and the National Police and paramedics were called. The baby was also taken to the Axarquia Regional Hospital but was in good health, except for showing the first symptom of hypothermia.

The girl, weighing 2.7 kilos, was visited by the Mayor of Velez-Malaga, Francisco Delgado Bonilla, who proposed that she be called Estrella, because she was born under a lucky star.

In the area where she was found, she could easily have been bitten by a rat or a dog. The baby currently remains in hospital under the care of the Junta de Andalucia and was declared as ‘neglected’. She will go into foster care when she is released from hospital, who will take care of her until it is determined whether her relatives can take care of her.

According to the Junta’s Equality and Social Welfare Department, the only relative so far to have taken any interest in the baby is an aunt who lives nearby.

The young mother’s family has previously requested financial support from the local Social Affairs Department.

Police had to break up a group of around 100 local residents who caused damages to their home after discovering who the mother of the abandoned baby was.

By Jennifer Leighfield