This is the moment a mum gives her newborn baby girl a goodbye kiss before abandoning her on the pavement with a rosary on her chest.
The incident was caught on CCTV as it unfolded in the city of Joao Pessoa in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Paraiba on Monday, 23rd August.
Footage shows the unidentified woman holding her newborn baby girl in her arms and giving her a kiss on her face before leaving her on the pavement of a residential street.
The baby girl was found by an elderly resident named Sandra outside her front door. Sandra said she found the youngster wrapped up in a carpet.
According to Sandra, the baby girl still had a small piece of her umbilical cord attached to her belly.
Sandra said: “I saw something moving. When I opened up the carpet, there was the girl. The girl was calm, dressed, perfumed and had a rosary on her chest.”
Sandra took the baby and called the police, who took the newborn to the police station, with Sandra accompanying them.
The baby girl was then taken to a maternity clinic, where she was vaccinated and fed. Staff said she was around five days old and was in good health.
Medical staff gave her the provisional name of Ana Vitoria (Maria Vitoria, according to another local source), which may be changed if she is put up for adoption.
At the time of reporting, the newborn was due to be discharged yesterday (Wednesday, 26th August).
It is legal to put a child up for adoption in Brazil if one goes through the relevant channels. However, it is a crime to abandon one.
The local authorities are working to identify and locate the baby’s mother to find out why she abandoned her own child.
They will then decide whether Ana Vitoria can be put up for adoption.
