THE ATTORNEY representing Reshmi Ramrattan, the teenage mother charged with unlawfully killing her infant son, asked yesterday that bail be granted the woman who was being shunned by relatives and her husband.

"Her life has been one of misery," defence counsel Subhas Panday said.

Ramrattan first appeared in the San Fernando Magistrates' Court last Friday and was denied bail by Acting Deputy Chief Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan.

She is charged with the unlawful death of two-year-old Roshan Ramrattan at his School Road, Bonne Aventure, Gasparillo, home on September 29.

Ramrattan was remanded in custody, to give police time to do a criminal background check.

Yesterday, police prosecutor Ramdath Phillip said she had nothing on record and made no objection to bail being granted.

Rambachan placed her on $200,000 bail. But Panday called for the matter to be expedited since Ramrattan would be unable to post bail, since she "has nothing".

Panday blamed society for the life faced by Ramrattan and her dead son.

"She is not a murderer or a killer. ... She is not a well-known criminal. ... She bought a birthday cake (for the child). ... She is the victim. ... Her mother died when she was four (years old). ... Her father died when she was nine," he said.

Panday said his client was a runaway who "two to three years after was in a seriously abusive relationship. ... Her husband, no relative wants to see her".

He said over the past two days he had been trying to get assistance for Ramrattan but was unsuccessful in reaching the Member of Parliament and the councillor in the area in which she lived.

He said he was also trying to find a place for her to stay and had tried to contact a shelter or friend of Ramrattan for help.

Panday asked that the young woman be placed on her own bail but this was rejected by Rambachan.

"There are two sides to this. This is a gravely serious allegation. The victim was a helpless citizen of our country," said Rambachan.

Ramrattan was ordered to return to court on November 5.