Girl’s neighbor responsible for pregnancy: police.
By Sreekanth A Nair
In a shocking incident, a 13-year-old girl delivered a baby in the washroom of her school in Madhapur, Hyderabad.
The ninth standard girl, reportedly a tribal, developed labour pains when she was attending a class in school.
She complained of stomach pain and the class teacher sent her to washroom along with a classmate. The classmate later came back and told the teacher that the girl delivered in the washroom.
The school authorities informed her father immediately. Reports said the girl mother is no more and her father didn’t know how she got pregnant.
But DNA reported that her father knew she was pregnant, but kept it as a secret fearing social stigma.
The girl and her baby are safe in a hospital. Though the incident happened on Saturday, it came to light only on Monday when her father filed a complaint with local police.
The Madhapur police have registered a case under the sections of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 or Nirbhaya Act and under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
After a preliminary inquiry, the police have identified Dinesh, a neighbor of the girl, as the person who is responsible for her pregnancy. He used to accompany the girl to the school.
The school teachers and other staff were reportedly not aware of the girl’s pregnancy.
DNA quoted a teaching staff saying, “She is very slim and would walk with a dupatta on her stomach and she would sit with her bag on her lap, so we didn’t know.”
But her friends said that she was not interested in playing and was becoming aloof.
Basavalingam, the headmaster of the school, was suspended after found to be at fault in the primary inquiry. All teachers taking classes in the ninth standard have been asked to give written explanation to the District Education Officer (DEO).
Education and Woman & Child Welfare departments have been asked by the State Council for Protection of Child Rights to submit a report by December 15.
1 Comment
Unbelievably shocking!