Dubai Woman Who Killed Baby At Airport Sought By Police

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Police in United Arab Emirates are searching for a woman they believe delivered a baby and then strangled it in an airport toilet before catching a flight out of the country.

Local media reported Monday that authorities are seeking help from Interpol to locate the suspect, who was identified using security camera footage after the baby's body was discovered in a Dubai airport garbage can Thursday.

The Abu Dhabi government-owned daily The National cited an unnamed security source saying authorities are searching for an Ethiopian woman in her 30s. Other media said only that she is from an African country.

It's unclear if the woman was a resident in the Emirates, where giving birth outside of marriage is illegal.

Comments

[ammsamm]

11:24 AM on 12/28/2010

Don't go to the UAE and commit murder - whether you're the Mossad or anyone else.

[goddessNdiva]

09:58 AM on 12/28/2010

I don't know what made her strangle the baby but I can imagined that it scared her more to have it. Hope she is ok.

[Observer963]

03:43 PM on 12/28/2010

Agreed.

[Uproar]

10:10 PM on 12/28/2010

I wonder what the consequences are in Dubai for having a baby out of wedlock. The story didn't elaborate. Is it death?

[Js420]

08:34 AM on 12/28/2010

Several leads..She was wearing a white burka with a black headband...

[Dylan Potter]

06:29 AM on 12/28/2010

Interesting...the woman, not the strangled baby, is the victim? We assume that she gave birth out of wedlock simply because it is illegal to do so in the UAE and use it as a premise to speak about abortion rights. Hmm...perhaps there is more to the story? Perhaps she was neither a UAE citizen nor an unwed mother...after all, Dubai is a popular attraction for many of us Caucasians who live in Europe and who have nothing to do with Islam.

[Leo Bloom]

11:33 AM on 12/28/2010

You didn't even bother the read the story, before posting this inane kneejerk anti-Western blather.
According to police the woman was most likely African and/or Ethiopian.

[Dylan Potter]

04:38 PM on 12/28/2010

Anti-western? I'm about as western as they come, Leo. Anyway, just because they are 'searching for an Ethiopian woman', the article states that 'It's unclear if the woman was a resident in the Emirates'. So, you help to make my point by assuming that her Ethiopian/African background means that she is, indeed, neither a citizen nor a resident and like many of us here in Europe, was visiting Dubai on holiday. Therefore, the article's insinuation that her infanticide is somehow related to UAE reproductive legislation, is nothing but speculation at this point. However, if this Ethiopian/African woman IS a resident of the UAE, and therefore bound by UAE law, then the story can develop into a discussion about abortion rights...that is, unless she is married, then it renders that issue moot, at which point we can start speculating about other things. The point is that we simply do not know, so discussions about abortion seem premature at this stage. You seem disproportionately angry given my statement, Leo, does this help you?

[Dylan Potter]

06:53 PM on 12/28/2010

I don't think you got my point, Leo. Discussions of abortion in light of UAE reproductive law are moot if the woman is not a citizen (or a resident). The article suggests that while she is of African/Ethiopian descent, there is some question about where she actually resides. The point is that we don't know if she was living there permanently, or simply on holiday. Also, we don't know if she is married, which would also make discussions of abortion in light of UAE reproductive law moot (relative to this case). Nevertheless, the point is that no matter the scenario, this woman has murdered her child and left it in an airport toilet. I am proposing that this--the infanticide--is the major issue, not her background, not UAE legislation, not what the Qu'ran says or does not say. And I have no idea how to respond to your 'anti-western' comment...I'm as western as they come, Leo.

[VanTroi]

05:18 AM on 12/28/2010

Giving birth is painful I don't know how women do it in public without anyone noticing.

[Observer963]

03:44 PM on 12/28/2010

and messy ...

[Uproar]

10:11 PM on 12/28/2010

and not making noise from contractions? agreed, it sounds impossible, yet it seems women do this from time to time and no one hears a peep!

[Dunkleberger Karl]

04:16 AM on 12/28/2010

Mean while thousand s of babies are killed at home , because the mothers cant afford an abortion world wide!

[Andrew Henderson]

09:53 AM on 12/28/2010

So you want babies to be killed worldwide instead?

[Redemption Song II]

03:25 AM on 12/28/2010

...giving birth is illegal? What a bunch of [ ]s.

[ameal]

03:32 AM on 12/28/2010

outside wedlock, yes.

[Redemption Song II]

05:00 AM on 12/28/2010

...as I said: what a bunch of [ ]s.

[lisakaz2]

02:05 AM on 12/28/2010

I kinda hate stories like this because no one knows the story of why the woman did this. Did she have a choice? Was she forced into marriage or forced into s-x? Was she given any chance to terminate before this event? What she did or had to do might carry its own punishment and I fear what might await her is not proportional with her circumstances. So I hope she gets away. I wonder if a religious house would hide her or out her (they cover for priests, after all).

[RasputinsLiver]

02:18 AM on 12/28/2010

That what I was thinking as I was reading this story. Good job.

[ameal]

03:41 AM on 12/28/2010

So sad and so true.

[french queen13]

01:58 AM on 12/28/2010

I wonder if she knew she was pregnant? Strange as it sounds, there are many cases (in the West, at any rate) where young women haven't known, or have denied to themselves, that they were pregnant. Is it possible she knew nothing of pregnancy? I think it should be considered. She wouldn't be the first to be in such shock and fear at having a baby that she killed it.

[abuja19]

01:21 AM on 12/28/2010

I don't know the full story behind this...but if it's true, that lady will have to live with the burden of her action and decision to kill her baby for the rest of her life.

[SageSpencer]

01:04 AM on 12/28/2010

For every woman on planet earth I wish many things. One is a state sanctioned safe place to drop off an unwanted child.

[lisakaz2]

02:07 AM on 12/28/2010

Yep. That would probably prevent many tragedies like this.

[Dunkleberger Karl]

04:18 AM on 12/28/2010

I thought that was the Marine/army reception station?"a state sanctioned safe place to drop off an unwanted child."

[fishnetdiver]

05:54 AM on 12/28/2010

it's also the ability to get there safely that is needed.
if she was indeed having a child out of wedlock then she would have a difficult time getting said child to safety without being picked-up by the authorities on the way.
it's disgusting and heartbreaking.

[neighborhoodmole]

11:02 PM on 12/27/2010

If giving birth outside of marriage is illegal, then if an unmarried girl is raped and becomes pregnant, is she forced to have an abortion? More likely, she is forced to marry the rapist, which is what the Old Testament of the bible demands! Is that in the Koran also? What if they don't know who the rapist is? What if no man wants to marry her because she is carrying some stranger's child? Is she still breaking the law if she was forced to become pregnant, is willing to marry anyone, but no one wants to marry her? If so, then is she basically guilty of being female?

[RubalKhali]

12:11 AM on 12/28/2010

It is not in the Koran, no one said anywhere that this woman was raped.

[lisakaz2]

02:10 AM on 12/28/2010

And no one can actually say it's not possible. We don't know if her pregnancy was secret because of r-pe or inc-st or a number of other scenarios (like being unmarried or widowed).

[fireincarmation]

12:12 AM on 12/28/2010

They don't believe a woman can get pregnant unless she consents to the sex, so pregnancy is seen as proof she "wanted it." Also according to Muslim clerics "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab (veil), no problem would have occurred." The woman is always at fault in their mind.

[junaidnoori]

02:01 AM on 12/28/2010

That is not true at all. Why do you feel the need to lie? Is it a disorder caused by a problematic childhood?

In Islam, DNA tests is permissible to exonerate or convict an accused rapist. Also, the woman is permitted to have an abortion if the fetus is 120 days old (or younger).

[lisakaz2]

02:11 AM on 12/28/2010

Indeed, the pregnancy is like God's determination of her consent.

[charon]

10:56 PM on 12/27/2010

This is news? Of course the police are looking for her. It would be news if they weren't.

[PDXTransplant]

09:48 PM on 12/27/2010

What a sad story.

[Violinhunter]

08:15 PM on 12/27/2010

The woman had dozens of accomplices. Where are they? Anyone who has ever been in an airport knows how many people use the bathrooms. Delivering a baby is not over and done with in five minutes. And, it's a very messy and stinky business. The baby may have already been delivered and killed somewhere else!!!! Who knows?

[lisakaz2]

02:20 AM on 12/28/2010

Good point. I had a few adventures in airport bathrooms (I'll describe one -- having to administer IV drugs thru a picc line in my arm; I had to do that a few times there, actually). In one case, several ppl came and went and no one noticed what I was doing. I was alone in this "handicapped" stall and it was at the furthest point away from the door. I never saw anyone who used the bathroom while I was in there. In another incident, I needed a sink and there wasn't one in my stall (as there are in some handicapped stalls). A female traveler could not mistake what I was doing or why. Turned out, she was very sympathetic, having dealt with the same situation. So she was actually helpful. I don't think anyone else really paid that much attention to the situation.

So if this woman went to a less used bathroom and tried to mask her circumstances, she might have been able to prevent other bathroom users from knowing her business.

Of course, for all I know, maybe women there helped her and wanted to keep it quiet because they knew what trouble she'd be in if authorities knew of that situation.

[ammsamm]

03:11 PM on 12/28/2010

Then they will be caught as accomplices to murder.