MP: 17-year-old student delivers baby in school washroom during Class 10 board exam in Dhar

Dhar (MP), Feb 27 (PTI) A 17-year-old girl appearing for her Class 10 board examination gave birth to a pre-mature baby in the washroom of a private school in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district, uncovering a case of sexual assault.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Parul Belapurkar on Friday said that the incident occurred at a private school in Pithampura town, when students were appearing for the maths paper on Tuesday.

The teen complained of a severe stomachache two hours into the examination and sought permission to go to the washroom.

When she did not return to the classroom for a long time, the invigilators checked the washroom and, to their dismay, heard the cries of a newborn boy, an official said.

The female staffers rushed to the scene, and the girl and the infant were brought to a government community health centre in an 108 ambulance, community health physician Dr Prashant Kajave.

Both the teen and the baby were found to be stable, he said.

A preliminary probe revealed that the girl had been 34 weeks (eight months) pregnant, and the infant was premature, he said.

The ASP informed that a case was registered under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and transferred to the Betma police station.

The teen, in her statement to the Betma police, alleged that she met a boy while participating in a dance programme, and he had sexually assaulted her, which resulted in the pregnancy.

She also alleged that the boy had threatened her into silence and hence, she had not informed her parents about the assault, the official said, adding that a probe is underway. PTI COR MAS ARU