Mother Sets 1-Week-Old Baby On Fire, Dog Drags Child's Charred Remains Along Street

A mother in Brazil was arrested for killing her newborn baby and then setting the child's body ablaze on a waste ground.

The police said the 24-year-old suspect was arrested in the city of Anapolis. The incident came to light Wednesday after a local resident saw a dog dragging something in its mouth. The unidentified resident, who went closer to the canine and discovered it was carrying the body of a dead baby, immediately called the Military Police and informed them about the incident.

The police teams arrived at the scene and cordoned off the area. They carried out a preliminary investigation while the body was taken away to be examined. Chief Wllisses Valentim, head of the investigation, said the newborn's mother was taken into custody and she confessed to killing the child, Yahoo News reported.

A video, obtained by the police, showed the young mother near a waste ground, fetching fuel from her car before burning her baby’s body, local media Globo.com reported [Google Translate showed].

According to Valentim, the unidentified woman wanted to get rid of her baby as she had hid her pregnancy from her family and boyfriend. During questioning, she told the police she only breastfed the baby on the first day. She was not sure if the baby was dead or alive when she set the infant on fire.

In a similar incident in the Netherlands, the body of a newborn baby was found inside a garbage bag in North Brabant last week. The body was found by a local resident who was walking near the area in Wernhoutsburg park. The resident spotted the green garbage bag, picked it up and discovered the baby's body inside it. "You know, I can only hope that the baby did not suffer. If so, I hope for justice. Regardless, this is a tragic loss,” the man told local media, and urged them to protect his anonymity. The police, after launching a search for the child's mother, said they were concerned about her mental and physical state. The identities of the baby and mother were not revealed at the time.