BHUBANESWAR: A rape case has been registered in Odisha’s Malkangiri after a Class 10 student of a state-run residential school delivered a baby on the terrace of the hostel on Monday, hours after she appeared for her annual exam, police said.
Police said the 15-year-old girl, who lived at a residential school run by the state’s scheduled caste and scheduled tribe department, has been shifted to a sub divisional hospital.
School headmaster Ajit Madkami said the warden and the auxiliary nurse midwife should be held responsible since they visited the hostel regularly but didn’t know about the girl’s condition. “They come to the hostel once a week to check on the girls. I don’t know how this happened,” he said.
The girl’s father also asked how the authorities were not aware of her condition. He told reporters that a school teacher asked him to reach the school. “When I reached the school I was told that she had delivered a baby. My daughter stayed at the hostel and did not visit home for a long time. An auxiliary nurse midwife regularly does a health checkup of the girl students. How did everyone miss the pregnancy signs,” he asked.
Chitrakonda sub divisional police officer Pradosh Pradhan said a case under Section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (aggravated penetrative sexual assault by staffer of a facility) and sections 64 (rape) and 65 (1) (rape of a girl under 16 years) of BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) has been lodged,” said Pradhan.
Section 6 of Pocso Act relates to aggravated penetrative sexual assault
“We will arrest the accused soon,” Pradhan said, adding that a 22-year-old man who lived in a nearby village has been detained.
Over 158,000 girls in Odisha study in the schools run by the state SC/ST department. According to state government data, 21 cases of pregnancies among the students have been reported in these schools since 2010. This is the first case to be reported since 2023.
The state government has deployed 3,000 matrons and 336 ANMs to stop cases of teen pregnancies among students of tribal hostels. In addition, health check-ups of the inmates are being conducted. A woman cook, woman watchman and a woman assistant superintendent have been deployed in each hostel. Strict instructions have been given that no male person can enter the hostel without a woman companion.
A 2021 audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General flagged poor hostel infrastructure — 70% lacked boundary walls, and many had no security.