IPOH, July 17 — The dark secret of a single woman who dumped her newborn was exposed in the nick of time when a Taiping Hospital medical officer made a police report about the incident yesterday.

Police acted swiftly to investigate and wasted no time in finding the baby who was still alive, wrapped in a cloth and towel and invaded by ants behind the house of the 22-year-old woman involved in a housing estate in Taiping.

Taiping district police chief ACP Razlam Ab Hamid said police received a report from a medical officer at Taiping Hospital yesterday regarding the incident of the woman who was suspected of having given birth to the baby and throwing it away with the intention of concealing the birth.

Razlam said the baby was rushed to Taiping Hospital by ambulance and placed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where the baby’s condition was reported as stable.

He said police have opened an investigation under Section 317 of the Penal Code, which is concealing a birth and abandonment of a child under the age of 12 by the parents or guardians.

"If convicted, she can be punished with imprisonment of seven years or a fine or both,” he said tonight.

Razlam said the woman is unmarried and works as a salesperson and is still receiving treatment at the hospital. — Bernama