Credit: Othram
On the night of June 6, 2019, two teenage girls went outside to empty out their car before a significant thunderstorm was expected to hit the area, even though they had previously decided to do it the next morning. Once outside, they heard the unexpected—what sounded like a baby crying.
Living in an isolated house in the woods, their father assured them it was a wild animal but the girls couldn’t let it go. They convinced their father to go into the woods in the middle of the night to investigate the sound. The family soon found an hours-old baby tied up in a plastic bag thrown on top of a pile of leaves and sticks. Investigators arrived to the scene, performed first aid on the infant and rushed her to the hospital for care.
A happy, healthy “Baby India”—as she came to be called—will turn 4-years-old in two weeks. And now, with the help of advanced DNA testing, genetic genealogy and Othram, investigators at Forsyth County Sheriff's Office (Georgia) have arrested Baby India’s birth mother for criminal attempt to murder, cruelty to children in the first degree, aggravated assault and reckless abandonment.
‘They are not the same thing’
Ten months ago, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s office successfully used familial DNA to identify Baby India’s birth father—changing the course of the investigation. Sheriff Ron Freeman said there is no evidence that the biological father was aware of the pregnancy, birth or abandonment of Baby India. The birth father’s identification significantly narrowed the focal point for police, allowing them to zero in on who left the baby to die in the woods.
After months of intensive surveillance, background investigation, additional police work, DNA testing, and investigative genetic genealogy, investigators identified Karima Jiwani last week as Baby India’s birth mother.
“We were working [the case] hot and heavy for the last 10 months, but we needed one additional piece of information to make us feel we had enough to go forward with criminal prosecution, and that was the DNA identification of the birth parent,” said Freeman.
Once Jiwani was a suspect, the pieces of the case began falling into place. Investigators quickly discovered that Jiwani has a history of hidden and concealed pregnancies and surprised births, as corroborated by medical professionals and other witnesses. Trace evidence collected at the scene where Baby India was abandoned supports the likelihood that Jiwani was alone at the time of abandoning.
Additionally, Freeman said evidence suggests the birth likely took place inside a car. Detectives have leads on the vehicle and are currently working on locating it. Additional evidence revels Jiwani drove for a significant period of time after the birth of Baby India with the child in the car, and she made no effort to leave the child at a safe place—despite Georgia’s Safe Harbor Law.
Jiwani cooperated with investigators upon arrest, and Freeman said she has revealed some “motivating information,” but police will not be releasing any more details as the case is pending prosecution.
When Jiwani was arrested, there were other children in the home, aged from school age to nearly adult. Freeman said the Department of Family and Children’s services is currently evaluating the home and putting a safety plan in place.
“I want to make very clear the difference in someone who is struggling or in emotional distress and abandons a child because they don’t know what else to do, but at least takes some effort to find safety and care for that child versus somebody who tried to kill a child. They are not the same thing,” said Freeman.