COVENTRY: A Malaysian student in the United Kingdom has been convicted of murder after the body of a newborn baby was found stuffed in a cereal box and hidden in a suitcase.
According to the BBC, 22-year-old Teo Jia Xin pleaded guilty to the murder charge.
Earlier, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Teo claimed she had been hearing voices instructing her to dispose of the baby.
However, a jury at Warwick Crown Court rejected her defence.
The CPS said that Teo carried the baby to full term and gave birth on March 4 before placing the newborn in a cereal box.
The box was then placed inside a sealable plastic bag and stored in a suitcase.
Prosecutors added that the baby was alive after birth and that Teo knew the child would die after being placed in the box.
West Midlands policemen were called to Teo's residence two days after she visited a hospital showing signs of having given birth.
Hospital staff had asked her if she had recently delivered a baby, but Teo, who had only arrived in the UK earlier this year, denied it.
It was only under police questioning that she admitted to giving birth.
Teo reportedly concealed her pregnancy out of fear that her family and friends in Malaysia would find out, which she believed could affect her studies.
After the conviction, James Leslie Francis of the CPS said Teo arrived in the UK knowing that she would likely give birth there and had the opportunity to seek help.
"She chose to keep her pregnancy a secret and gave birth alone. She also lied to her concerned friends, to hospital doctors, and to the police to prevent anyone from discovering her baby," he said.