A 25-year-old man, Samsun, was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act on charges of raping a minor girl and fathering a child, at the Reddiarpalayam police station limits, following intervention from the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
The incident came to light after the victim, a minor girl from a village in Puducherry, gave birth to a male child following rape by the accused, a family friend from the same village, according to Vidyaa Ramkumar, chairperson of the CWC. The pregnancy of the girl, who was a student of class XI at the time she was raped, was detected by her mother at an advanced stage of pregnancy after she started showing signs of it.
After finding out what had happened, the family moved out from the village. With the father of the girl working overseas, the girl, her brother and mother started living incognito in the town. She finally gave birth to the child on April 14.
The new-born was initially kept in the child home and later given up for adoption.
After being given a counselling by CWC, the girl has been readmitted in a school as she wanted to continue her education, said Vidyaa.
Based on the complaint given to Omvir Singh, IPS, SSP (L&O), by CWC, a case has been registered under the Section 376(1) of IPC and Section 4 of the POCSO Act 2012.
Marriage Stopped
The marriage of a minor girl from Tamil Nadu with a man from Puducherry, planned on May 5, was prevented by the timely intervention of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the police department officials.
On May 2, the CWC received a complaint from the Student Federation of India (SFI), on an upcoming child marriage to be solemnised on May 5 at Tamil Thirumana Nilayam, Oulgaret.
The bride was a 17 -year- old from Tanjore and the groom was G Prathip, (29), from Oulgaret, Puducherry. Though the girl had completed her plus two, she was not willing to tie the knot, but was compelled by her parents.
She had already attempted to commit suicide, when she was brought to Puducherry for the wedding some 15 days back, said Vidyaa Ramkumar, the CWC chairperson.
The CWC, after verifying the facts, gave a complaint to Omvir Singh, IPS, SSP (L&O) along with the wedding invitation and the letter received from SFI, following which a case was registered.
The case was handled by the Mettupalayam police who called the groom, his parents and the parents of the girl to the police station and explained the consequences of the unlawful marriage. Thereafter the groom and his parents decided not to proceed with the marriage.
A counselling was given to the girl to pursue her education, Vidyaa added.