The Almeria Provincial Court has sentenced 32 year old Hafida R. to six years in prison for attempted murder after she left her newborn baby in a plastic bag near a rubbish container in January 2008.
The maximum penalty is 10 years and six months, but this was lowered to 6 years as the woman did carry out all the necessary acts to produce the immediate death of the child, instead placing it in a situation where the freezing temperatures and inclement weather would be a major factor.
The intent was to kill, albeit eventually, as she could have left the baby with the authorities or the hospital. Her reasons were that such action would have brought family shame.
The Court also took into account the fact that is pure luck that a passer-by noticed the hand of the child in the bag near the rubbish container as the baby was making no sound to alert anyone.
Hafida R. was also ordered to pay compensation of €30,000 to the child for ‘moral damages’ and is banned from exercising parental authority for a period of six years.