Kalamassery police in Ernakulam registered a case against a 12-year-old boy for allegedly impregnating an 18-year-old girl, who recently gave birth to a girl child in a Kochi hospital.
The Times of India reports that the boy, who has been booked under Juvenile Justice Act, had allegedly impregnated the girl two months before she turned 18.
A case has also been registered against the private hospital for not informing the police about the incident.
However, the hospital authorities told TOI that they had informed the Childline officials and that all the files pertaining to the girl’s case were handed over to them after the patient was discharged on November 4.
Kalamassery Circle Inspector maintained that the police had been informed about the incident a day after the girl gave birth.
“The hospital authorities were supposed to inform us immediately as per Section 18 of the POCSO Act,” Circle Inspector Jayakrishnan said.
But Childline and Child Welfare Commission said that it was not mandatory to inform the police, but any of the agencies listed under the Juvenile Justice act.
According to the report, the newborn has been sent to a state-run home, after the grand parents of the girl told Child Welfare Commission that they cannot bring up the baby.