A TEENAGER who concealed her pregnancy from her family, hid the baby girl's body in a shoebox under her bed, an inquest has heard.

College student Ayesha Tariq wore baggy clothes to disguise her swelling stomach until she gave birth alone in her bedroom while the rest of her family slept on the night of February 27, 2013.

The inquest in Bradford heard that Miss Tariq, who claimed the baby was stillborn, put her body in a box and then put her own clothing in a bin bag also under the bed in the house that she shared with her family in Springfield Gardens, Keighley.

She went to college the next day to sit an exam but two days later the secret was almost discovered when her mum complained of an awful smell in her room and told her to tidy up.

Miss Tariq, now 20, tidied up but when the smell still remained, her mother confronted her and the daughter broke down telling her everything.

Her mother, Tasleem Akhtar, put the bin bags and the shoe box in the boot of her car and tried to get an emergency appointment for her daughter to see a GP, she tried the next day too without luck and eventually on March 5, 2013 took Miss Tariq and the baby's body to A&E at Airedale Hospital disclosing the death to doctors.

The inquest today heard a forensic post-mortem examination could not find what had caused the death. There were no signs of disease or injury.

Assistant Bradford Coroner Dr Dominic Bell said: "There was no reason why the infant could not have been born alive, she could have breathed independently but there's no proof that was after she was born."

DNA testing proved Miss Tariq was 3,800 times more likely to be the baby's natural mother than be unrelated and a man called Ishaan Saleem 39,100 times more likely to be the biological father than not, said Dr Bell.

Police arrested Miss Tariq on suspicion of infanticide, attempting to pervert the course of justice in an allegation of false rape and for preventing the baby's burial. Her mother was also arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and burial offences.

The pair were released on police bail while the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) reviewed the case against them but Dr Bell said the CPS was not intending further action.

He adjourned the inquest pending further inquiries.