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A class 9 student of a government residential school gave birth to a baby in the school toilet in Shahapur taluk of Karnataka's Yadgir district, the Superintendent of Police said.
According to the FIR, the girl was full-term pregnant and had been sexually assaulted by an unknown person about nine months ago. The incident occurred on Wednesday (August 27) at approximately 2 pm. The matter came to light after her classmates noticed that the girl was in labour and informed the school administration. Initially, the girl, who said she was under a lot of stress, refused to divulge the details of the incident or the name of the person involved. She only told the authorities that she had felt stomach pain while in the toilet and had given birth there, the SP said. "Both the girl and the baby have been admitted to the hospital and are reported to be in stable condition," the police said. Police said that neither the school management nor the victim's brother had informed them about the incident. During the investigation, the police identified the accused as a 28-year-old man and registered a POCSO case based on a complaint filed by the District Child Protection Officer. A case has also been registered against four others, including the hostel warden, the school principal, the staff nurse and the victim's brother, for failing to inform the authorities about the girl's pregnancy, police said. The girl had been attending school continuously since the beginning of the academic year. Meanwhile, the Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Association (KREIS) has suspended four school employees, including the principal and the hostel warden, on charges of dereliction of duty and negligence in monitoring the academic and health conditions of students. Deputy Commissioner Harshal Bhoyar and SP Prithvi Shankar issued a joint statement and said, "We will not reveal any information about this incident. The case is currently under investigation. We are investigating who is at fault. We will take action after the medical report comes. We will suspend the hostel staff. We will take action after determining where the mistake occurred and identifying the responsible parties. We will not protect anyone." "We will take action to prevent such an incident from happening again. We will investigate the matter of parents hiding it and child marriage. We will take necessary action to prevent such an incident. Nodal officers will be appointed and information will be obtained about the problems in the hostel," the statement said. Child Rights Commission member Shashidhar Kosumbe pointed out the failure of the officials and said that they should have paid attention when there was a physical change in the child. "A complaint has been filed in this regard. Such incidents are coming to light repeatedly and it is distressing. The officials have been instructed to submit a detailed report. The officials should have paid attention when there was a physical change in the child. A medical check-up should be done once a month, but the Social Welfare Department officials have failed. Action should be taken against the officials who were negligent in not conducting a medical check-up. Medical check-ups should be conducted in the residential school to prevent such incidents from happening again," Shashidhar Kosumbe said. (ANI)
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