KOCHI: In a bizarre incident, a 12-year-old boy is likely to be the 'youngest father' in India after police, with the assistance of DNA profiling confirmed the paternity of a four- month-old girl, whose 17-year-old mother is the boy’s relative.
The incident came to light in November, 2016 when the girl gave birth to a baby at a private hospital in Kakkanad, and revealed during the investigation that she was impregnanted by her younger relative.
However, given the age of the minor boy, police profiled the DNA of the infant girl to confirm the paternity. "The DNA profiling was conducted at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, where medical experts generated DNA profiles from the blood samples of the father and the baby. The report confirmed that the boy was the baby girl’s father," Jayakrishnan S, Circle Inspector, Kalamassery said.
According to police a case under the POCSO Act was registered against the couple as they are both underage. "Since both are minors, cases under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) would be registered against both. The trial will be conducted by the Juvenile Justice Board," said the officer.
The spokesman of the private hospital where the girl delivered the baby told The New Indian Express that they had reported the incident to police when the girl was admitted. "Immediately after learning that the mother was a minor, we reported the matter to the Childline and police. We have handed over all the reports to the agencies concerned as part of the probe," the spokesmen said.