A court has delivered its verdict in the harrowing case of a newborn who died from cold in a trash bin in Semey. The man who left the child there was sentenced to life imprisonment, while the mother was released from punishment. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The case was heard by the specialized inter-district criminal court of the Abai region, according to Arnapress.
The man, born in 2000, was found guilty of the murder of a minor under Part 3 of Article 99 of the Criminal Code. He will serve his life sentence in a maximum-security facility. He was also stripped of the rank of senior police lieutenant.
The child's mother, born in 2005, was convicted under Article 100 of the Criminal Code — "Murder of a newborn child by the mother." She was sentenced to two years of imprisonment but was released from punishment under the amnesty law tied to the adoption of the new Constitution. The woman was stripped of the rank of junior police sergeant.
According to case materials, the girl secretly gave birth at home, and her boyfriend drove the newborn away and left the baby in a trash container.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty. The court examined SMS messages, WhatsApp correspondence, testimony and expert conclusions.
"According to expert data reviewed in court, the child was alive at birth. Later, after a certain time, he died from exposure to cold," the judge said while announcing the verdict.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that the infant's body was found in Semey on February 3. He was wrapped in a towel. At the time, the 20-year-old mother claimed she had given birth at home and the child was born without signs of life, but an examination determined the baby died from cold.
Similar cases occurred this year in the Zhambyl region and Aktobe. In September, a newborn girl was found in a trash container on the territory of the Guards garrison, and in May, an infant was found in a bag under a tree in Aktobe. Both children survived.