Mother 'kills pregnant daughter, extracts unborn child'

A woman in the Algerian capital murdered her 16-year-old daughter after she fell pregnant without being married, according to local media.
1 min read
02 March, 2017
The woman confessed to the crime while in court [Stock photo: Getty]

A woman in Algeria murdered her 16-year-old daughter after she fell pregnant without being married, a court in Algiers has heard.

The unidentified woman, described only as a "mother of three" strangled the young mother-to-be with a rope before cutting her womb open and extracting the foetus, the court was told.

The body of the young girl, who was said to be in her seventh month of pregnancy, was then set alight in their home in the east of the capital, prosecutors said.

No further details were provided on the attack, however al-Arabiya reported the woman had waited for her husband and other children to attend work and school "before committing the crime".

The woman allegedly disposed of the unborn child, cleaned the crime scene - then visited her neighbours' house for coffee in an attempt to build an alibi, the court heard.

The killing comes as a shock to many in the relatively safe north African nation where the crime rate is labelled as "moderate".

The woman has not denied any of the allegations against her, and provided many of the details to the court herself. the case is expected to conclude shortly.