A MALAYSIAN student in the United Kingdom (UK), who placed her newborn baby in a cereal box shortly after birth in March this year and concealed the box in a suitcase, has been sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 17 years.
According to court documents, Teo Jia Xin, 22, who concealed her pregnancy for fear it would affect her studies, gave birth to the baby at her student residence on March 3.
The UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the baby “was alive after birth and could have survived but Jia Xin Teo decided to place her inside a cereal box knowing that it would kill her”.
Teo, 22, was sentenced on Friday at Warwick Crown Court following her murder conviction, according to the latest update on the CPS website.
Police discovered the baby two days later, by which time the infant had already passed away.
After Teo gave birth, she reached out to a friend, Eve, asking for "medication to replenish blood".
She lied to her friends about what happened, blaming her ill health on a period.
She refused to come out of the bathroom and when an ambulance was called she declined medical treatment and paramedics left.
However, she later went to hospital by taxi when her condition deteriorated.
Reports said she admitted to killing the child two days later as police discovered the suitcase which her flatmates had helped move.
In court, she claimed she heard voices which told her to kill or harm the baby, but a jury at Warwick Crown Court rejected her defence. - October 26, 2024
