FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Karima Jiwani, the mother accused of abandoning her newborn in the woods, tied up in a bag to die in June 2019, entered a negotiated guilty plea.
According to court officials, Jiwani pled guilty to attempted murder and first-degree cruelty to children on Feb. 13.
Jiwani has been in jail since being arrested in May 2023, when new evidence led to the identification of the newborn, who had only been known as “Baby India” before genetic evidence helped identify her as the mother.
At a news conference in 2023, Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman identified Jiwani and said she had a history of concealed pregnancies.
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Ten months before her arrest, sheriff’s office investigators were able to use DNA evidence to identify “Baby India’s” father. Officials said Jiwani had given birth in her car, then drove around before abandoning her baby in the woods.
Deputies said three sisters in Forsyth County had heard what they thought was an animal in the woods, and when their father went searching, he found the baby in a plastic bag.
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Paramedics found the baby in time to save her and four years after, the sheriff’s office was able to identify Jiwani and bring her to justice.
“Baby India” was eventually matched with another family and was “thriving,” according to the last update from the sheriff’s office in 2023.
She was sentenced to 30 years in prison and to serve 15, with the rest to be served on probation.
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