Hours after writing matriculation examination papers at a government-run school, a class 10 girl delivered a baby in the Chitrakonda area of Malkangiri district in Odisha on Monday.
According to reports, the girl was residing at an ashram school run by the state SC/ST department. The girl was pregnant, but any health advice, she appeared for an exam on Monday.
“When I reached school I was told that she has delivered a baby. My daughter stayed in hostel and did not visit home for a long time. A auxillary nurse midwife regularly does health check up of girl students in hostel. How did anyone miss signs of pregnancy,” said girl’s gather as quoted by HT.
Other teachers pinned the blame on the hostel warden for the shocking revelation. The local police and the District Welfare Officer began a detailed investigation into the incident.
In the rate, about 1.58 lakh girl students studied in schools run by the state SC/ST department. Between 2010 and 2015, 16 pregnancies amongst the girl students enrolled in the schools were reported, with 5 pregnancies recorded from 2015 to 2022. Apparently, neither has there been an instance of the same in 2023 and 2024.
A similar case occurred in January 2019 at the Beltikiri Ashram School in Dhenkanal district where a 13-year-old tribal girl, a Grade 8 student, complained of stomach pain and was subsequently discovered to be seven months pregnant, having allegedly been raped by the headmaster, Kartik Gaur.
Pregnancies among girl students in these schools have emerged as causes for concern, mostly linked with sexual abuse, poor supervision, and socio-cultural vulnerabilities. Exact numbers on the cases of pregnancy are, however, not systematically published by the department, but quite a few high-profile incidents and accumulated data speak for the magnitude of the issue.
In order to stop teenage pregnancies among students of the hostel, the state government deployed 3000 matrons and 336 ANMs. In addition, health check-ups of the inmates are being conducted. A female cook, female watchman, and female assistant superintendent have been deployed in each hostel. Strict orders have been given that no male can enter the hostel without a female companion.
CCTV cameras have been installed inside the gates on both sides, at the washroom and verandah, of the residential schools and hostels run by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes welfare department.
