An overseas Filipino worker pleaded guilty of unlawfully abandoning her dead newborn son in Hong Kong.
Last March 21, 37-year-old domestic helper Aileen Ongcoy Grado secretly gave birth to her son inside her employer’s home. But after a few minutes, the baby stopped crying and was lifeless.
Worrying that her employer would find her out, she cloaked the infant’s corpse with clothes and plastic bags and hid it inside a toilet in Tsuen Wan, according to the South China Morning Post. She was originally charged with one count of infanticide, but following the autopsy report ruling that the infant bore no scars and wounds, Grado’s sentence was lessened to just 12 months behind bars.
The baby’s corpse was eventually found on April 4, which led to Grado’s surrender to the Philippine Consulate General. Grado’s defense lawyer asserted to Hong Kong’s District Court that Grado’s beau, the biological father of the baby, left her after learning about the pregnancy.
Throughout the whole time, Grado kept the baby but reportedly concealed her pregnancy from her employer.
Likewise, Grado, a solo parent who began working for her employer back in 2014, sent HK $2,000 (P12,820) monthly to an 8-year-old daughter in the Philippines, local news site Apple Daily reported.