A woman doctor has been arrested for allegedly keeping her aborted foetus wrapped in bloody cloths and stored away in a lunch box for six months.

Monica Yurie Ayabe, 40, was arrested by police on Thursday, 2nd March, after discovering the corpse inside a closet at her home in the municipality of Barueri, in Brazil.

Police reportedly searched the obstetrician’s home after receiving a report about the dead foetus.

There, they found a suspicious-looking plastic lunch box containing a few pieces of bloodstained cloth.

Upon opening the lid, the police found there was an aborted foetus wrapped inside.

Ayabe was arrested and taken to the Barueri Central Police Station for questioning.

Meanwhile, teams from the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IML) carefully placed the dead foetus inside a small coffin and removed it.

Investigators learned the corpse had been kept inside the closet since October 2022.

It is believed the woman performed the procedure on her own by taking abortion medicine before hiding the foetus – presumably to avoid being fined, as abortion in Brazil is considered a crime.

The doctor denied the allegations and claimed that she suffered a miscarriage.

She told investigators she was not aware it was necessary to notify the authorities about the body.

Ayabe was reportedly charged with concealing a corpse and is currently being held behind bars on an undisclosed amount of bond.

According to the Brazilian Penal Code, destroying, subtracting or concealing a corpse is punishable by imprisonment from one to three years and a fine.

Investigators suspect that this was the third time Ayabe has performed an abortion on herself.