Following weeks of investigation, the parents of a newborn child who was found abandoned at the international Doha airport, have been identified, authorities in Qatar said.
The incident began when the abandoned infant was found in a plastic bag in a rubbish bin at the Hamad International Airport in October 2020. The incident triggered unprecedented gynecological examinations executed to several female passengers on board to a Sydney-bound Qatar Airways flight.
The prosecutor said that a woman who was identified to hold a passport from “an Asian country” has left Qatar. The public prosecution’s office explained that international efforts were under way to extradite the mother.
The mother has been charged with an attempted murder and the authorities say she could face charges of maximum penalty of 15 years, according to Aljazeera.
Following the investigation, authorities in Qatar found a father of an abandoned newborn. A DNA test proved that an Asian man was the father. Public prosecution’s office contacted him.
“The father of the infant admitted that he had a relationship with the infant’s mother, and that she had sent him a message and a photo of the newborn infant immediately after her birth.”
“The letter included her saying that she had thrown [away] the infant she had given birth to and fled to her country. Examining the DNA of the defendants were identical to that of the infant,” Aljazeera reported.
The infant is now being taken care of by Qatari authorities.
In the statement on November 23, 2020, the public prosecution’s office added that they filed criminal charges against police officers who were allegedly responsible for carrying invasive examinations of female passengers.
Unspecified number of airport security staff could face a prison sentence up to three years.
The incident caused an outrage in Australia, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the searches appalling and unacceptable.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, who is responsible for security services, apologized in a tweet saying “we regret the unacceptable treatment of the female passengers at HIA. I assure you that we will hold those responsible for these acts to account. “