A judge in Hong Kong has ordered government prosecutors to expedite the case of an overstaying Filipino domestic helper who allegedly dumped her baby into a trash bin.
Eastern Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai on March 7 made the order in the case filed against Maribel D. Hernandez who has been incarcerated for more than two months.
A prosecutor said the police still needed to conduct toxicology and DNA tests and check further the pills found in the defendant’s bag. She added that Hernandez’s records are also being reviewed at the Immigration Department.
Hernandez was found bleeding on the morning of January 6 in a subdivided flat for domestic workers inside State Theater Building at King’s Road in North Point. She was taken to a hospital in Chai Wan where doctors discovered she had already given birth. Police tried to locate the baby at trash bins within the vicinity of the building, as well as the landfill in Tuen Mun but searches have yielded no success so far.
She was later charged with “administering drugs to procure abortion” but plea was not taken.
Authorities have discovered the presence of Cytotec Misoprostol tablets — known to induce abortion — in her handbag. According to the report from Hong Kong News, women who take drugs that induce abortion can be fined and imprisoned up to seven years.
Hernandez was reportedly married back in the Philippines, but entered into sexual relationship with a Filipino in Hong Kong. After her employment contract ended in June 2014, Hernandez was living in the said address with a friend.
A pregnancy may be legally terminated if two registered medical practitioners would attest that continuing the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, according to the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong.