Raped child gives birth

Arnab Ganguly, TT, Chandigarh, Aug. 17: A 10-year-old rape victim, whose plea for abortion had been declined by successive courts including the Supreme Court, gave birth to a girl in a government hospital in Chandigarh this morning.

"A Caesarean section was performed. There were no complications. Both the girl and the newborn are doing fine. As the baby was born premature and weighs only 2.2 kilos, she has been kept in the neonatal ICU for now," said a doctor at the hospital.

Hospital sources said the baby was delivered around 9.22am.

Social workers who have been interacting with the family said the child had not been told about her condition. "Her parents had told her she had a stone in her stomach that had to be removed surgically.... After the delivery, the girl's parents refused to take a look at the newborn," said an official from the child welfare department.

The girl, repeatedly raped over several months, allegedly by an uncle, was last month taken by her parents to a doctor after she complained of stomach ache. She was diagnosed as being 30 weeks into her pregnancy. In India, medical termination of pregnancy is not allowed beyond the 20th week unless there's an immediate threat to the life of the mother.

Sources said the newborn would be under the care of the child welfare committee and then put up for adoption, as the girl's family has declined to have anything to do with the baby.

After the baby is fit for discharge, she would be taken to the state-run children's home, Aashiana. After two months, the process of adoption will start.

"The girl's parents have already submitted in writing that they do not want to keep the newborn. We will counsel them about the remaining process. We expect that in less than a year's time the baby will have a name, a family and a home," said a committee member.

Under the Juvenile Justice Act, parents unwilling and unable to raise a child can apply to surrender the child. In this case, as the mother is a minor, her parents would have to complete the legal formalities.

According to sources, once the legal paperwork is done, the child's details would be available on the Central Adoption Resource Authority website.

"Once a family confirms that it wants to adopt the child, the matter goes to court and takes about three to five months to settle. Till then the child can be handed over to the new parents for pre-adoptive foster care," said a source.

A month ago, the district court in Chandigarh had rejected a plea by the girl's parents, a family from Nepal, to terminate her pregnancy.

A PIL filed in the apex court came up for hearing before the division bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who rejected the plea on the basis of a recommendation from the Chandigarh-based Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research. The institute said that medical termination of her pregnancy at that stage could put the girl's life at risk.