A former maid pleaded guilty in District Court on June 29 to
three charges relating to her overstaying in Hong Kong ,
aborting her eight-month-old pregnancy, and dumping the dead baby in a rubbish
bin in North Point on Jan 6.
Maribel H. David, 37, appeared before Judge Timothy Harry Casewell
on charges of breaching her condition of stay, administering a poison to
procure miscarriage, and preventing the lawful burial of a body.
David pleaded guilty to all three charges and admitted the
facts of the case. Casewell adjourned the hearing until July 13 for sentencing
pending a background report on the case.
The Filipina was arrested by police in hospital on Jan 7
this year, a day after officers took her bleeding and seriously ill to Pamela Youde
Nethersole Hospital
Prosecutor Janice Cheuk said in her summary of facts showed
that in the early morning of Jan 6, David left the flat in State Theater
building which another OFW, Joy Odette Marcon, rented and offered to share with
her when they met on Nov 12 last year.
David slept on the upper deck of a bunk bed and Marcon’s
daughter and niece who were visiting at the time slept on the lower deck. Marcon slept on the floor.
The report did not mention whether Marcon was aware that
David was pregnant, but she told investigators the defendant returned to the
flat about 10 minutes later and climbed to the upper deck of the bed.
At about 6am, David fell to the floor and Marcon found that
she had no underpants and was bleeding. She suggested calling the police for
help but David refused. Four hours later, when David had become very weak,
Marcon dialed 999.
David was taken to the hospital where she told doctors she
was 8 months pregnant but aborted it by taking pills, then threw away the
baby’s body. She was arrested when she became suitable for interview on Jan 7.
Police found two packets of Cytotec pellets in the bag David
brought to the hospital. They searched rubbish bins near State Theatre and City Garden
David told investigators it was her Filipino boyfriend,
Artemio Mansira, who was the father of the baby. She resorted to abortion
because she was confused, Cheuk said.
So, in the morning of Jan 5, she bought two packets of the
abortion drug containing 20 pills and took 12 over three ingestions between
around 12 noon and 8pm. She felt the need to deliver while walking near City Garden
The court heard that David came to Hong
Kong on June 19, 2012 to work as a domestic helper. She decided to
stay on without Immigration permit after she used up her 14-day visa extension when
her contract expired on June 19, 2014. -Vir B. Lumicao
