Finland police arrest woman after finding remains of five foetuses

Finnish police have found five badly decomposed human foetuses in the storage room of an apartment building in the northern town of Oulu and have arrested a woman resident on suspicion of manslaughter, authorities said yesterday.

Police checking packages found in the cellar by maintenance workers on Tuesday were approached by a woman, 35, who told them they contained the remains of stillborn babies to which she had given birth at her home five to 10 years ago.

Detective Inspector Seppo Leinonen said police arrested the woman, who is married and has children.

"We are investigating the case as a homicide as the foetuses are so close to full term that under normal conditions they would have been viable to survive," Leinonen said. He said the corpses may be several years old.

Leinonen would not give further information about the woman or comment on the number or ages of her living children. Her family moved into the building only a few months ago, and police suspect she brought the bodies from her previous residence.