Dead baby found on Qatar Airways plane

Jakartha : The body of a new-born baby has been found in the toilet of a plane after it arrived in Indonesia from Doha, with police waiting to question a female passenger, an official said Tuesday.

The grim discovery was made late Sunday by cleaners as they moved through the Qatar Airways flight after its arrival at the main international airport serving Jakarta. The foetus was estimated to be between five and seven months old, airport police spokesman Endang Sutrisna told AFP. Staff found it wrapped in tissue paper in a toilet.

A female passenger an Indonesian migrant worker was taken for a medical checkup before being transferred to a police hospital in East Jakarta for further tests.

Officials did not say what relationship she had to the baby. “If the results of the doctor’s examination shows she is fit for questioning, then she will be brought to the airport police to answer inquiries, and account for her (alleged) actions,” Sutrisna said.

It is not yet clear if the woman will face criminal charges, the official added.

Middle Eastern countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are major destinations for Indonesian domestic workers, particularly women who work as maids and send money home to their families.