The mother of the newborn whose body was discovered in scrubland off a main highway in Santarém on Saturday remains in police custody after an autopsy has revealed she placed the child in a plastic bag shortly after giving birth to him in an abandoned house nearby.
According to national tabloid Correio da Manhã, the 22-year-old was helped by a friend who is now also under investigation by the PJ judicial police.
The dismal story has been in the public eye since Sunday when an aunt of the young woman went to police to tell them what she knew.
Célia Arroteia said her niece had given birth to the child four days previously (click here).
She said the young woman was already a mother of two and was meant to have been supported by child protection agency CPCJ.
CM suggests the mother, named only as Rafaela, was questioned late into Monday night and is due to be presented before a judge in court later today.
