Staten Island, NY: Nausheen Rahman, a 28-year-old Indian American woman in New York is being held without bail on a murder charge after police say she gave birth to a girl and threw the newborn away in a garbage can at her home. Rahman was arraigned March 14 on Staten Island.
Nausheen Rahman allegedly told investigators she gave birth to the baby on Friday. She then cut the umbilical chord, and put the baby girl into a plastic bag and into a trash can, according to the criminal complaint. She was then arrested on Saturday at about 11:30 a.m. inside her home on Richmond Hill Road near New Springville. Rahman was charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse. An attorney for her declined to comment.
A source told the New York Daily News that oxygen was found in the baby’s lungs. Investigators believe that finding may mean the baby was alive when Rahman allegedly dumped it, according to an msn.com report.
The infant’s body was discovered unconscious and unresponsive at the New Springville neighborhood home by officers March 12 after responding to a 911 call around 11:30 a.m. Emergency crews pronounced the baby dead at the scene. Police were called to Rahman’s address after she showed up at Staten Island University Hospital March 11, complaining of pain, police sources told the Daily News.
Rahman told authorities that she had given birth but said the baby had died, sources said. Rahman allegedly admitted to throwing the child in the trash before going to the hospital, the Daily News reported.
The New York Police Department said officers responded to a 911 call at the home on Richmond Hill Road in the New Springville neighborhood. The condominium is just a few blocks from the Staten Island Mall. Police found the newborn baby unconscious and unresponsive. Emergency crews pronounced the child dead at the scene
It’s not clear where Rahman gave birth. The medical examiner’s office says the cause of death was pending further study, according to an Associated Press report. Rahman was also charged with unlawful concealment of a corpse. Police continue to investigate.
She was not aware that the sex of the baby was a girl because she threw the baby in a trash bag so quickly that she didn’t take the time to look at the child and assumed it was a boy, according to the district attorney. Rahman allegedly lied to her parents and family about being pregnant and they said they were unaware.
According to a New York Times report, when Rahman appeared in court on Staten Island, her parents sat near the back of the courtroom with their heads in their hands. “The actions of this defendant are so horrendous and so reprehensible that it shocks one’s conscience,” Jane Grinberg, an assistant district attorney, said, according to the Times report. Grinberg said that Rahman had seen a doctor about her pregnancy, but that she kept it a secret from her parents. Her lawyer, Michael Robert Rosas, said he doubted the prosecution’s version of events.
“We’re going to conduct our own investigation and see where it leads,” he said, the Times reported. Neighbors around the Honey Bee Condominiums on Staten Island, where Rahman lived with her parents and two younger brothers, said they had no idea she was pregnant. She often wore traditional clothes from India, they said, and the fabrics hung loose around her frame, reported the Times, adding that Judge Raja Rajeswari ordered her to held without bail.