The mother who left her newborn in the woods to die nearly four years ago is now in custody, the Forsyth County sheriff said Friday.
But Ron Freeman said it doesn’t make it any easier to understand.
“This child was tied up in a plastic bag and thrown into woods like a bag of trash. I can’t understand that. I truly wish I could,” Freeman said. “The biological parent, I have trouble with the word ‘mother,’ who inexplicably, intentionally, left her newborn infant to die.”
Now, the nearly 4-year-old girl nicknamed “Baby India” is thriving, despite her tumultuous birth, and has been adopted, according to investigators, who want to protect her privacy. And though her biological father had no idea she existed, India’s mother definitely did, the sheriff’s office said. Thanks to DNA evidence, and the Texas-based Othram lab, investigators were able to first find India’s father and then her mother, Freeman said.
On Thursday, 40-year-old Karima Jiwani was arrested and charged with criminal attempt to commit murder, aggravated assault, child cruelty and abandonment, Freeman said.
Jiwani was being held Friday at the Forsyth County jail. In her first court appearance Saturday, the judge denied bond for Jiwani. She has lived in southern Forsyth County for several years, the sheriff said.
Through interviews with numerous people who know Jiwani, investigators believe she has a history of hiding pregnancies. But Freeman said there are no criminal charges related to any other incidents at this point.
Freeman stood in the same spot where four years ago, he asked for the public’s help in finding the person responsible for leaving India in the woods. He admitted he had no idea at that time that it would take four years. Both the GBI and FBI were asked to assist in the investigation, Freeman said.
On June 16, 2019, deputies were called to an isolated stretch of Daves Creek Road after a family nearby heard the baby girl’s cries. They had been away on a trip and returned just before 10 p.m. As the family was unpacking, two teenage daughters heard the recognizable noise, investigators previously said.
Deputies rescued the baby and performed first aid until she could be taken to a hospital. Hospital workers decided to call the baby India, rather than the standard baby Jane Doe, the sheriff’s office previously said. Investigators now believe the baby had been born earlier the same day inside a car, Freeman said Friday.
Footage of the rescue, recorded on the first deputy’s body camera, showed deputies wrapping the baby up in a jacket until paramedics arrived.
“She’s a sweetheart,” Deputy Sheriff Terry Roper said on the video. “Oh, look at how precious you are!”
The newborn was already a fighter, crying until she was rescued, deputies said.
“Back then I called it divine intervention, and I still believe that today,” Freeman said.
India was taken to a local hospital after being found in the woods. She was later placed in state custody and then adopted. At that time, the sheriff’s office had offers from around the country to adopt her and even pay her college tuition.
Weeks after the incident, the sheriff said India was “thriving,” though investigators still searched for her mother. She’s still a healthy, happy child, the sheriff said Friday. But Freeman wishes to protect her privacy.
DNA proved to offer a break in the case, Freeman said. The Othram lab, which has helped solve other recent Georgia cases including a newborn killed in a University of Georgia dorm in 1996, helped deputies find the baby’s parents. The technological boost proved key.
But Freeman reminded citizens that no baby needed to enter the world like India had.
Since 2002, Georgia has had a Safe Haven law, which allows parents to surrender a baby without facing criminal charges. But experts say many mothers may not realize the law exists.
“For God’s sake, don’t leave a baby in such a position,” he said.
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