14-yr-old teen, raped by cousin, booked along with mother for abandoning baby

A nurse, allegedly suspected to have paid ₹60,000 by the rape survivor’s mother to help deliver the infant and take it away has also been arrested

Published on: Oct 10, 2024, 19:47:28 IST

By Shruti Tomar

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BHOPAL: A 14-year-old girl who was raped by her cousin and her mother have been booked in Bhopal on charges that they abandoned her newborn daughter near a railway track, police said on Thursday. The infant later died at a hospital.

The teen rape survivor was brought up by her mother after her husband walked out on her 10 years ago (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The girl’s mother and a nurse who helped deliver the baby on Tuesday and later allegedly left the newborn near the rail tracks have been arrested under Section 93 (abandonment of the child) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, said deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Bhopal Zone 1, Priyanka Shukla said.

Shukla added that a case was registered against the 17-year-old boy under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (Pocso) Act for rape.

The girl and her cousin, also a minor, have been taken into custody and are being counselled, she added.

The newborn was found lying in a sack near the tracks in the city’s Aishbagh area on Wednesday. When investigators scanned footage from CCTV cameras in the vicinity, they spotted a woman who was believed to have left the sack. She was identified as a nurse Asma Firdaus Khan.

The nurse told investigators that she was hired to help deliver a baby by a Class 8 student who had been raped by her cousin.

Once the girl’s mother - a single mother after her husband abandoned them 10 years ago - learnt of her daughter’s pregnancy, she stopped her from going to school or stepping out of the house. “The mother made arrangements for the delivery of the child at home and gave ₹60,000 to the nurse. After the child was born on Tuesday, the nurse abandoned her,” a police officer said.

The officer said it appeared that a doctor is also learnt to have guided the nurse on the steps to deliver the baby.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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