10-year-old rape victim stable after giving birth to baby girl in Chandigarh

The girl was unaware that she had delivered a child. Her parents had told her that she has a stone in her stomach and she had to be operated for that.
Image used for representational purpose only
Image used for representational purpose only

CHANDIGARH: A team of three gynaecologists, an anaesthetist, a neonatologist and a paediatrician heaved a sigh of relief after a 10-year-old rape victim - thinking she was being operated upon for a stomach ailment -- delivered a 2.2 kg female child at a government hospital here on Thursday.

Sources in the hospital said both mother and child are stable. The newborn is in intensive care as she was slightly underweight.

The girl had been made pregnant by her uncle and efforts by social workers to have the pregnancy terminated went right up to the Supreme Court, which finally ruled that it would be dangerous to the girl.

She went through the whole ordeal never knowing she was pregnant, and her delivery by a C section at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32 in Chandigarh begins an uncharted pathway of counselling and rehabilitation for a traumatized family.

The baby will now be handed to the care of an adoption agency as per request of the father of the young girl.

Dr Dasari Harish, chairperson of the committee constituted to oversee the treatment of the rape victim, said it was a high-risk pregnancy but everything went fine. The young mother is stable.

The newborn will be handed over to the Child Welfare Committee of the Chandigarh Administration after discharge from the hospital. The adoption process will start after two months.

The minor was allegedly raped by her uncle for seven months. The fact of her pregnancy came to light only when the victim was taken to hospital upon complaining of a stomach ache last month. She was found to be over 30 weeks pregnant.

The Supreme Court on July 28 refused to allow an abortion at such a late stage of pregnancy.

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The New Indian Express
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