Taiwanese police on Monday (March 4) confirmed that blood samples taken from the hotel room of a Singaporean woman, who is alleged to have disposed of her newborn girl, match the DNA of the baby.
The confirmation reported in Taiwanese media comes nearly a week after the authorities launched investigations into a Singapore couple suspected of wrapping the baby's body in a black plastic bag and dumping it in a food recycling bin in central Taipei.
Police believe that the body of the baby, which had the placenta and umbilical cord still intact, was disposed of shortly after her birth last Tuesday (Feb 26).
A 24-year-old woman and her 23-year-old boyfriend from Singapore have been identified as key suspects, according to local media reports.
The girl's body was found by an employee of a recycling company on Tuesday, after the bag was transported by garbage truck from Taipei to Xindian.
On Monday, Taiwan's Apple Daily said that the next step would be for the Taiwanese authorities and its forensics team to clarify in an autopsy if the baby died before or after birth.
Following the confirmation on the cause of death, Taiwan police are expected to contact the Singapore Police Force (SPF) for their assistance, if necessary.
The couple reportedly flew into Taiwan on Feb 19 and returned to Singapore last Tuesday afternoon.
Taiwan police were able to trace the identity of the man after reviewing footage from cameras along the route of the garbage truck.
Witnesses who claimed they had seen the man said he spoke in Mandarin with a "foreign accent".
The man was also believed to have checked into a hotel in Ximending that is "popular with South-east Asian visitors" with the woman.
Police later took DNA test samples from the bloodstains and hair found in the bathroom in the couple's hotel room.
The SPF said on Sunday that they have been in touch with the Taiwanese authorities.
They are waiting for an official request from their Taiwanese counterparts on the assistance they need, they added.
The Straits Times on Monday visited the woman's family home in Yishun, Singapore, and that of her boyfriend in Choa Chu Kang, but no one responded despite repeated attempts.
Additional reporting by Fabian Koh
