Day after a Class 10 student gave birth to a premature baby in a state-run school hostel, the authorities have suspended the headmaster of the institute, Ajit Madkami, officials said. The incident happened in Malkangiri of Odisha. Hostel matron Suchitra Charchi has also been dismissed with immediate effect; an auxiliary nurse and midwife, too, have been under suspension.
The student delivered a baby girl on Monday after returning to the hostel after appearing in the board examination, officials said.
The headmaster of the school, run by the ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Class Welfare Department, said, “Men are not allowed in the girl’s hostel. We do not know how she got pregnant.”
“Health workers are supposed to conduct weekly check-ups of all students living in the hostel. This incident showed that the health worker was not doing her job,” he said.
The girl and her baby were first taken to the sub-divisional hospital in Chitrakonda before being shifted to the Malkangiri district headquarters hospital. Hospital sources revealed that the student gave birth to a premature baby at just eight months of pregnancy.
Sub-divisional Police Officer of Chitrakonda, Pradosh Pradhan, said that a case has been registered under several sections of the POCSO Act and BNS.
The girl’s parents have sought to know from the school authorities how the pregnancy remained hidden till she went into labour.
District Welfare Officer Srinivas Acharya said it is likely that the girl might have conceived when she went home during a vacation. “A departmental inquiry has already started,” he said.
A man who is suspended to have impregnated the girl has been questioned by the police.
