10-yr-old Chandigarh rape victim gives birth to girl

CHANDIGARH : The 10-year-old rape victim gave birth to a girl at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, here at 9.32am on Thursday.

The delivery was done via Caesarean section. Both the mother and newborn are in good health, said the hospital staff. Neither the 10-year-old mother nor her parents have seen the newborn’s face.

The girl’s pregnancy was only discovered recently after her parents took her to hospital when she complained of stomach pain. They discovered that the girl had been repeatedly raped by her uncle over seven months. The girl’s family hails from Nepal and has been staying in a servant quarter in Chandigarh.

The newborn was shifted to the neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU) where she will be kept for at least five days. “The newborn is premature and weighs 2.1 kg as the delivery took place at 35 weeks. The mother will be kept in observation for a couple of days,” said Dr AK Janmeja, director-principal (additional), Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Chandigarh.

“The child is too young for a normal delivery. Her pelvic bones are not strong enough to push the baby and she doesn’t have the stamina to bear labour pain,” a doctor said.

According to sources, the girl has been told that she had a stone in her stomach that had to be removed.

The infant is in the hospital’s care until doctors find her healthy enough to be discharged. After that, the Child Welfare Committee will be the custodian as the family has decided to give up the child for adoption, legally known as surrender.

The child will be kept at Aashiana, the state adoption agency, for two months after which the state will start the process of adoption.