10-year-old rape victim delivers baby without knowing it

Chandigarh: A 10-year-old rape victim, who delivered a baby girl in a hospital today, was told by her parents she was being operated upon for stones, a doctor said.

The victim, whose abortion plea was turned down by the Supreme Court, underwent a C-Section in a government hospital here.

“Her parents told her that she had been taken to the hospital for treatment of stones,” the doctor said.

Dr Dasari Harish, chairperson of a committee constituted for the treatment of the rape victim, said the girl’s condition was stable.

“The minor girl delivered a baby through C-section this morning. The infant’s weight is 2.2 kg and it has been admitted to neo natal ICU. As far as the girl is concerned, she is stable and will be kept in a separate room,” Dr Harish said.

He said the infant was slightly underweight.

“We hope the baby also recovers,” the doctor told PTI.

The victim’s father has requested the hospital authorities that the newborn be put up for adoption, sources said.

Dr Dasari described the C-section procedure as “uneventful”, though it was a “high risk pregnancy”.

“A team of doctors was involved in delivering the child.

In the team, there were three gynaecologists, an anaesthetist, a neonatologist and a paediatrician,” he said.

The treatment expenses of the rape victim are being borne by the Chandigarh Administration.

The girl was raped allegedly by her uncle for several months. The crime came to light when the victim was taken to a hospital after she complained of a stomach ache last month where she was found to be over 30 weeks pregnant.

On July 28, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking its nod for terminating the 32-week-old pregnancy of the rape survivor after taking note of a medical report that said abortion was neither advisable for the girl, nor for the foetus.

A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud took note of the report of the medical board set up by the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, to examine the rape survivor and the consequences if an abortion was allowed.

The bench had asked Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to consider its suggestion for setting up a permanent medical board in every state to take prompt decisions on abortions in view of the fact that such cases often reached the apex court.

Courts allow the medical termination of a pregnancy of up to 20 weeks under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and can make an exception if the foetus is genetically abnormal.

—PTI