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Two people charged after a newborn baby was found in a wooded area outside Halifax will stay in police custody until their next court appearance, as the infant’s mother remained in hospital Monday in critical condition.
Sukhpreet Singh, 23, a relative of the mother, and his wife, Ramandeep Kaur, 26, are both facing charges of concealing the body of a child, two counts of obstruction, and offering an indignity to a dead body.
Singh and Kaur appeared separately by video in Halifax provincial court on Monday afternoon.
Chief Crown lawyer Paul Carver requested the matter be adjourned for three days, which the judge granted. Singh and Kaur will remain in police custody until their next court appearance on Thursday.
“There is a lot of information still to be gathered, to be reviewed, there are a lot of circumstances that are being looked into,” Carver said outside court Monday.
Carver said the investigation is continuing and as evidence is gathered and assessed, “we may determine other charges are appropriate.”
Police say the 23-year-old mother was taken to hospital on Friday after paramedics and firefighters were called to a newly constructed apartment building on Willett Street in the urban neighbourhood of Clayton Park.
The woman appeared to have just given birth, but the baby was not with her.
Police were called and went to the Willett Street home around 9:40 p.m. With no sign of a baby, a search was launched, which included the inside and outside of the apartment building and nearby dumpsters, according to police.
Four people were taken into custody and interviewed by investigators.
More than 60 search and rescue volunteers and police scoured the Clayton Park area for the baby throughout the weekend.
‘An extremely tragic incident’
Police spokesperson Const. Martin Cromwell said police learned of a “second location” during the police interviews.
The remains of the infant were then located in a wooded area around 3:20 p.m. AT Sunday off Old Coach Road in the suburban community of Goodwood, N.S., just over 10 kilometres from the Willett Street home.
“I’ve been with the department for close to 20 years now and this is definitely a first,” said Cromwell in an interview outside police headquarters on Monday.
“It’s an extremely tragic incident.”
Cromwell said the woman remained in hospital on Monday, but he did not have an update on her condition.
Cromwell reiterated that her condition is not believed to be related to any acts of violence.
The medical examiner’s office was expected to conduct an autopsy on Monday to determine the cause of death and to confirm the infant’s identity.
Cromwell said investigators, many of whom are parents themselves, have worked tirelessly on this investigation.
“Anyone with small children, babies, be it the officers and/or anyone from the community, [it] can be very disturbing and alarming to have to learn of this type of situation and be directly involved,” he said.
“If you need support, definitely seek out support.”
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