Dawa Lama, who dumped her newborn baby in trash at a hospital in New York, sentenced to 10 years imprisonment

Dawa Lama, 23, a Nepali immigrant residing in Queens, New York has been convicted of murdering her newborn daughter and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by Queens Supreme Court on Monday.

According to reports, Lama gave birth to a baby girl and left the newborn unattended in a trash can in the emergency room of Elmhurst Hospital on May 10, 2011. The baby survived for a week on life support.

Lama’s sentencing has been set for April 6. She will be deported to Nepal once she finishes her sentence.

According to sources near Lama, she had been hiding about her pregnancy to her boyfriend and parents. She had convinced others to believe that she had grown fat and that she was not pregnant.

Lama was working as a beautician in New York city after arriving in the United States four years ago with her mother.

US federal law (safe-haven) allows women to hand over their unharmed infant within five days of birth to hospital authorities, police stations, fire houses or rescue squads if they wish so.