The court heard that upon police interrogation, the mother said she left her home in San Po Kong Mansion at Choi Hung Road on the morning of November 17 for a violin lesson. When she returned, the baby was fine.

"Later at 9pm, Ng found [Hoi-ching] showed no signs of life," court prosecutor Fanny Tou said. "She tried to apply first-aid treatment on the girl."

The following day, Ng dumped the baby's body into a rubbish bin at the rear staircase of her residential building, Tou said.

Ng did not enter a plea after the charge was read to her.

She initially sent law enforcement officers on a search for her missing child by saying a middle-aged woman had asked her for directions to Wong Tai Sin MTR station. She claimed she answered her questions and walked on for a distance before realising that her baby had disappeared from the stroller.

Police placed frontline officers on high alert and sought help from the Immigration Department to keep a close eye on travellers with babies at various checkpoints. Ng was arrested on December 2, after the focus of investigation fell on her as possibly having cooked up the story.

The charge warrants up to seven years in jail and a fine under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance.

Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen adjourned the case to January 15, pending further police investigation.

The prosecution said police needed time to examine Ng's personal computer, mobile phone, bed and mattress.

Ng did not apply for bail and has been remanded in custody.

She is reportedly a mistress of the baby's father, who is married with three children. He runs a small waste recycling company.