19-year-old unmarried migrant worker kills her baby

A 19-year-old unmarried mother killed her baby by throwing the baby into a river to drown. The mother is a migrant worker in Jiaxing city of Zhejiang province who works at a foot bathing store. She didn’t know who was the father.

When she went to the hospital in July 2013 because of stomach pain, she found out that she was already deep into pregnancy. “She didn’t want anyone to know she was giving birth, even more, she didn’t have any means to raise the child. From that sprung her idea to kill the child,” Xinhua writes (via QQ).

Four days after the baby was born, she tied the child up in electrical cords and threw the baby into a river. The next morning, the body was found, and she was accused of murder. The trial began on February 24 in the Nanhu district court of Jiaxing, Zhejiang.

Unwanted pregnancies are a big problem among migrant workers, according to the Xinhua article. Earlier this year, a case was heard involving a 17-year-old migrant worker who killed her baby by throwing it out the window after giving birth in the workers’ dorm.

Most unwanted migrant pregnancies end before they give birth. From October 2011 to October 2012 in Foshan, a city just outside of Guangzhou, there were at least 9,493 abortions, and over half of the mothers were migrant workers.

Xinhua’s reporters cited boredom and low social standing as factors for some migrant workers having unwanted pregnancies:

A good number of female workers told reporters, their social circle is small, they have a relatively empty spiritual life after work, so some workers turn to bad boyfriends, resulting in physical and psychological hurt.

Shenzhen female worker Jin Yan said, they aren’t too busy when they are working. Everyone is playing on their phones while working. On the night shift, you can often hear the sound of QQ coming from phones. Most of the workers use their phones to communicate and search for love to kill time. She knows at least three fellow workers who had been deceived after dating online.

Deng Jie, a leader in Shenzhen on labor issues, said that there needs to be an education campaign aimed at young workers. Xinhua paraphrased her:

Many of the female workers come from the countryside where the educational levels are lower, and there is a relative lack of physiological knowledge. … 18- or 19-year-old girls need emotional comfort, and the factory and society should launch the appropriate educational campaign to guide their emotional needs.