Rape survivor’s family won’t keep her baby

Gurgaon: The family of the 14-year-old rape survivor who delivered a baby girl on Saturday has refused to keep the infant fearing social stigma. If the survivor — who is still recovering in hospital — refuses to take custody of the infant, the child will most likely be sent to an orphanage.
According to the sources within the police department, the minor’s mother has already informed them that they aren’t interested in keeping the newborn.
Meanwhile, almost 48 hours after the cases was reported, police have not yet been able to identify the person who had raped the minor in October last year. “We are carrying out an investigation on the basis of the information received from the 14-year-old,” a police officer in the know of the matter said.
TOI had on Saturday reported that the survivor gave birth to a baby girl in the Sector 10A Civil Hospital on Friday. She was allegedly drugged and raped in October 2019 by a neighbour who lived in the same area.
Her family said it was was unaware of her pregnancy. She was rushed to the hospital on Friday when she started complaining of stomach ache. Doctors found the girl had gone into labour. The teenager is a student of class VII of a private school and came to Gurgaon in 2016 from Darjeeling in West Bengal along with her mother and younger brother.
Her mother, who has two more kids, used to work as a guard with a private company in DLF-3, but lost her job during the lockdown.
The girl, in her statement given to the legal adviser, said she and her friends, including a boy, went to a park to play in October. Around six boys were already present in the park. The girl was offered a drink and she woke up late in the evening.
“A woman found her lying in the park and woke her up. She came back home and found blood stains on her clothes. Fearing she would be scolded, the girl washed her clothes and did not share anything with her mother,” a police officer said.
In March, the girl had complained of back pain and was taken to the doctor. On the direction of the doctor, she underwent various tests but her mother could not collect the reports due to lockdown.
On Friday, when she complained of stomach pain, her mother took her to hospital, where doctors told them the teenager was in an advanced stage of pregnancy.
An FIR was registered under Section 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Pocso Act at Sector 40 police station was registered on Friday evening.