Bengaluru: This is as shocking as it gets — a 17-year-old girl giving birth in the school toilet!
Yes, a class IX student of a government-run residential school in Karnataka’s Shahapur taluk delivered a baby earlier this week after the teenager went into labour during school hours.
Noticing the girl in extreme distress, her classmates immediately alerted the teacher.
School authorities rushed the minor and her newborn to a nearby hospital, where both are in stable condition.
A police investigation has been launched into the unusual childbirth by a minor.
A case has been registered based on a complaint by the District Child Protection Officer, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the accused.
As per the FIR, the girl, aged 17 years and 7 months, was full-term pregnant and had been “sexually assaulted” by an unidentified person about nine months ago. The sexual abuse took place when the girl used to stay in the hostel.
Accused, 28-yr-old man, arrested
Investigation led to the arrest of a 28-year-old man, who has been identified as the accused in the case.
Cases have also been registered against the hostel warden, school principal, staff nurse and the victim’s brother for failing to inform authorities about the girl’s pregnancy.
The Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KREIS) has suspended four employees of the school, including the principal and hostel warden, for alleged dereliction of duty and negligence in monitoring the students’ educational and health conditions.
The girl was reportedly irregular in school since the beginning of the academic year, police said.
Initially reluctant to share details, the girl said she experienced severe stomach pain in the washroom and unexpectedly delivered the baby there.
‘No visible signs of pregnancy’
Hostel warden Geeta Salimani insisted that she had no knowledge of the pregnancy.
“There were no visible signs (of pregnancy),” said school principal Basamma Patil.
A senior officer said the girl will be counselled once she recovers and is declared fit by doctors, to ascertain what happened and whether she knew the accused.
