Dutch mother 'admits killing four babies'

A 25-YEAR-OLD Dutch woman has confessed to killing four babies, a week after their bodies were found hidden in suitcases in the attic of her house, the public prosecutor said.

Dutch police said last week they had arrested the woman in a rural village in the north of the country on suspicion of killing the four babies in the period between 2002 and 2010, echoing a similar case in France last month.

The prosecution office said yesterday the woman had "confessed to having been pregnant four times and to have killed her babies after their birth".

Forensics tests indicated the woman was the mother of the babies, but gave no details about the cause of death.

Investigations to determine the identity of the father or fathers of the babies continue.

Suspicions were raised by a villager who alerted police. The woman initially told officers she had given the children up for adoption.

The woman's parents, who lived at the same address, said they were not aware of the pregnancies and police said last week they were not suspects in the case.

The parents have decided to move away from the village, it was reported.

The case comes after a 47-year-old woman in France confessed last month to suffocating eight of her new-born babies and hiding their bodies.