Finnish mother to be charged with her babies' murder

Helsinki: A Finnish woman will face murder charges in a case of five dead infants found in June in Oulu, north Finland, a media report said.

Five deceased near-term foetuses or new-born babies were found in a cellar of an apartment block in Oulu with a 35-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of murder in the beginning of June this year, Xinhua reported.

The suspect told police earlier that the babies were stillborn at home over a decade, but she denied deliberately killing the children.

After a five-month preliminary investigation, police confirmed that the suspect was the mother of all the babies, but fathers of the babies were unable to be identified. Police also determined that there were both boys and girls among the deceased infants.

The investigation did not find that anyone had assisted the woman in childbirth. The woman herself could not explain her actions such as why she hid the infants.

Seppo Leinonen, chief investigator, said in a press conference Tuesday that police will recommend charges to the woman for five counts of murder and five counts of grave desecration.

Police did not comment on the cause of death at this stage. The case will be transferred to prosecutors for consideration of charges later this week, Finnish broadcaster YLE reported.