Class 10 girl delivers baby in Odisha school hostel, headmaster suspended

NEW DELHI: A day after a class 10 student gave birth to a premature baby in the hostel of a state-run residential school in Odisha's Malkangiri district, the authorities on Tuesday suspended the headmaster of the institute, officials said. Following an inquiry, the district administration of Malkangiri also disengaged hostel matron Suchitra Charchi with immediate effect and put an auxiliary nurse and midwife 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.

School staff face suspension

The girl and the baby were taken to the sub-divisional hospital at Chitrakonda, and then shifted to the Malkangiri district headquarters hospital. Hospital sources said that the student gave birth to a premature baby which was only eight months in the mother’s womb. Sub-divisional Police Officer of Chitrakonda, Pradosh Pradhan, said that a case has been registered under several sections of the POCSO Act and BNS.

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Following a hue and cry over the incident, the district administration disengaged lady matron Suchitra Charchi with immediate effect and placed headmaster Ajit Kumar Madkami and Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery (ANM) Kabita Kumari under suspension, an official said. 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, adding that a man suspected to have impregnated her has been questioned by the police.