DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 4 (UPI) -- A Dubai court ruling convicting a woman of killing her unborn baby in a car crash is the first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates, a judge says.
The 27-year-old pregnant Lebanese woman Sunday was found guilty of causing the death of the child last year by driving recklessly and initiating a car crash that severed the fetus's umbilical cord only days before she was scheduled to deliver the child via Caesarean section, al-Arabiya reported.
"This is a unique verdict and the first time ever in a Dubai court that a mother has been found guilty of causing the death of her unborn baby in this way," Judge Ahmad Hassan told Dubai's 7Days newspaper.
"We are trying to protect the fetuses' rights to live … that right is protected by law," Salah Bu Farousha, head of the Dubai Traffic Public Prosecution, told Gulf News. "Pregnant women who are about to deliver should protect theirs and their fetuses' lives and avoid driving as much as possible except in emergencies."
Al-Arabiya said the judge fined the woman $545.
