The woman accused of placing her newborn daughter in a plastic bag and leaving her in the woods will remain in the Forsyth County jail.
Karima Jiwani, 40, was denied bond Thursday for the second time since her arrest last month. After nearly a four-year investigation, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office arrested Jiwani in May and charged her with criminal attempt to commit murder, aggravated assault, child cruelty and abandonment.
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. As the family was unpacking from a trip just before 10 p.m., 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, where workers decided to call the baby India, rather than the standard baby Jane Doe. Investigators now believe the baby had been born earlier the same day inside a car, Sheriff Ron Freeman said after Jiwani’s arrest.
“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 in May. “The biological parent, I have trouble with the word ‘mother,’ who inexplicably, intentionally, left her newborn infant to die.”
But little India proved herself a fighter and survived her harrowing birth. She caught the attention of people around the country after her story and photos made headlines. Hundreds offered to share their homes, while others offered donations of baby food and even money for college.
The little girl, who turns 4 years old Friday, was later adopted and is thriving, according to investigators. Freeman said his agency is protective of her privacy.
DNA offered 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.
Investigators were first able to locate India’s biological father, who said he did not know she existed. That led deputies to Jiwani. Through interviews with numerous people who know her, investigators believe the woman has a history of hiding pregnancies. But Freeman previously said there are no criminal charges related to any other incidents at this point.
Within days of Jiwani’s arrest, her husband of nearly 19 years filed for divorce, court records showed. The couple has three children.
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