Police say the woman was charged with negligence of a child in New Zealand after the two-year-old girl was found in a suitcase in the luggage compartment of a bus.
New Zealand Police detective inspector Simon Harrison said in a statement that the bus driver was found at a scheduled stop in Kaiwaka, a town in the Northland area.
The suspect asked to access the compartment during the stop, said Harrison, acting crime manager for the Auckland Ajacent area of Wort Matter.
“The driver became worried when he noticed the bag was moving,” he said. “When the driver opened his suitcase, they discovered a two-year-old girl.”
The infant was taken to hospital for “a wide range of medical evaluations” and “reported to be extremely hot, but otherwise physically unharmed,” Harrison said.
The suspect is a 27-year-old woman whose name has not been made public, and was arrested and charged with “abuse/neglect” of a child, he said. No further charges have been ruled out, he added.
She is scheduled for court Monday, Harrison said.
It is not clear why the toddler was in the suitcase. Antrada Travel Group, which operates Intercity, a national bus line in New Zealand, has confirmed that the incident has something to do with one of the buses.
The Bus Line says online that children up to 2 years old will travel for free if they do so on the Guardian’s lap. Children over the age of 3 may travel with the Guardian, but it usually requires a child’s ticket, which is sold at a deep discounted rate.
“We know of incidents involving passengers in one of our services,” Antrada Travel Group said in an email. “The police have been called to respond and are investigating the issue. No one has been hurt during the incident and services have resumed.”
He said he could not comment further during the ongoing investigation.
Harrison praised the bus driver for realising it and taking action.
“We want to acknowledge and praise the bus drivers who realize something is not right and act immediately and prevent anything that could lead to much worse,” he said.
Kaiwaka is the state’s expressway 1, about 60 miles north of Auckland along the country’s central artery.
