A teenager concealed her pregnancy from her family and hid her baby girl’s body in a shoe box for six days, a Bradford inquest heard.

Ayesha Tariq, now 23, broke down in tears yesterday as she refused to answer 36 questions about the circumstances of the birth, which took place alone in her Keighley bedroom on February 27, 2013.

Bradford Coroners Court heard Miss Tariq, who claimed the baby was stillborn, put her body in a box and then put her own soiled clothing in a bin bag also under a single bed in her room.

The then 19-year-old sat a mock exam the following day, but two days later, her mother complained of a smell in her room and she broke down and revealed what had happened.

She told her mother, Tasleem Akhtar, the pregnancy had been a result of being raped by two men in an alleyway after she left a youth club.

Her mother put the bin bags and the shoe box in the boot of her car and unsuccessfully attempted to get an emergency doctor’s appointment. Six days after the birth, the body was taken to Airedale General Hospital in Steeton where the Miss Tariq told doctors the baby had been stillborn.

Initially, she gave police a detailed account of how she had been raped, but then revealed her story was false and she had instead been in a consensual but secretive sexual relationship.

Police arrested her 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 teenager and her mother were released on police bail and the CPS are not intending to take further action. Giving live evidence to the court from behind a screen, Miss Tariq said she felt “scared and ashamed” about the pregnancy.

She said she had booked a doctor’s appointment to discuss the pregnancy but did not go through with it. She told the court she had not felt any movement from the baby since November 2012.

She added: “Everyday I wanted to ask someone for help, I don’t know what stopped me.”

When asked by coroner Martin Fleming about specific details of the birth, she refused to answer under her right to not give evidence which may incriminate her.

Mrs Akhtar also gave evidence to the court from behind a screen.

The coroner asked her why her daughter would not have informed her of a sexual relationship.

She replied: “Because it is not what we do. It is not culturally acceptable.”

Doctors concluded a cause of death could not be ascertained and could not establish whether the baby had taken a breath on the balance of probabilities.

Offering a narrative verdict, Mr Fleming said: “There is insufficient evidence on the balance of probabilities to determine whether baby Tariq was born alive or stillborn.”

Concluding the inquest, the coroner offered his condolences to the family and appreciation to the witnesses.