The Jiading District People's Court in Shanghai Thursday sentenced a teenage mother to three years in jail for killing her baby just hours after it was born.

The court heard the 18-year-old mother, who was only identified by the surname Mei, threw her newborn from a sixth floor balcony, possibly to hide her pregnancy, last October 29.

The unmarried teenager said she was raped in her hometown in Hubei Province, and didn't want anyone to find out about the attack. That became difficult once she found out she was pregnant.

Mei and her mother moved to the city last April to find work. Her mother never realized Mei was pregnant, although she did suggest the girl exercise more as she was putting on weight. Mei kept her pregnancy secret until the day she delivered the baby.

Prosecutors said Mei locked herself inside the bathroom for a long time and told her mother she was having her period and needed privacy on the morning of October 29.

Prosecutors allege she gave birth to the baby in the bathroom and tossed the infant out the window so no one would find out she had been pregnant.

(Shanghai Daily March 3, 2006)