12-Year-Old Who Was Allegedly Raped By Schoolmates While Returning From School Delivers Baby

A 12-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by three of her schoolmates has delivered a baby.

The unidentified girl from the Indian state of Rajasthan safely delivered a baby Sunday night after her parents brought her to a hospital on complaints of stomach pain. According to the police complaint, the girl said three of her seniors had raped her nine months ago. The alleged assault is said to have taken place while the girl was returning from school.

Authorities have placed the girl and the infant under the care of India's Child Welfare Committee, reported Hindustan Times.

The girl was initially taken to a local hospital near her village in Balesar where the doctors found she was pregnant. The parents then reportedly forced the medics to perform an abortion on her. However, the hospital informed the police about the girl's case and referred her to a hospital in Jodhpur, around 70 miles away from her village, where she eventually delivered the child, The Times of India reported.

The police have registered a case and an investigation has been initiated, Rajuram Choudhary, a senior investigating officer, told the outlet. Choudhary added that there has been confusion regarding the time and location of the alleged assault as schools were closed most of the time during that period due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Sangeeta Beniwal, chairperson at the Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said the girl had complained of being abducted and raped by three or four suspects who came in a vehicle. The girl reportedly identified one of the accused but later retracted, Beniwal said after visiting the victim.

Meanwhile, the police are interrogating the two other suspects named by the girl, according to The Times of India.

Last week, a 17-year-old girl who was raped by an unknown suspect in India gave birth to a stillborn baby in a hospital. The teen girl from Ahmedabad, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat, was brought to a hospital Saturday on complaints of bleeding and stomach pain. The doctors found her nine months pregnant and the girl soon went into labor. The girl then fell into a coma and died minutes after delivery. She wasn't able to speak much about the suspect.