Rovensko pod Troskami newborn: mother charged with murder in Czechia

Police have detained the mother of a newborn found dead in mid-September in a container in the town of Rovensko pod Troskami in the Semily district. The woman has been charged with murder and faces up to 20 years in prison or an exceptional sentence. This was announced on Thursday by regional police spokeswoman Vladimíra Štrterová.

According to her, the investigator immediately filed a motion to place the accused in custody, and the judge granted it.

Forensic officers have been working on the case since 13 September: the infant's body was found in a container for sorted waste. At the end of September, police announced they would use DNA tests. Mass screening was one of the methods chosen as part of the criminal proceedings to verify facts already established, the police spokeswoman explained.

A similar case was investigated in the Liberec Region in 2017: on 11 February, a dead newborn who had been born alive was found in a household waste container in the centre of Liberec. The mother's identity could not be established at the time.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz