RANCHI – A teenager was forced to give birth to her baby on the side of the road in the eastern Indian state of Jharkand after she was refused help by medical center staff.
The 17-year-old girl, from Saraikela-Kharsawan district, was in a relationship with a man in her village when she became pregnant. He abandoned the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, when she told him she was pregnant, and her family turned their backs on her fearing they would be shamed, the Mail Online reports.
The girl was forced to leave home. According to locals, the young girl had been seen living on the streets for over four months.
On Monday, at around 7pm, she started going into labour and approached the local health centre, Chandil Sub Divisional Hospital, for help. But staff allegedly refused to take responsibility for her as she was not accompanied by a guardian.
At 5am, the following morning, the girl gave birth to a daughter on the side of the road, just 30 metres away from the health centre.
A passerby noticed her clothes soaked in blood and an umbilical cord still attached to a baby, and raised an alarm.
A group of ladies managed to finally admit the girl and baby into Chandil Sub Divisional Hospital, where the two were eventually treated.
The girl and baby are now stable and being shifted to a women’s shelter Mahila Suraksha Griha, in Jharkhand.
