Minor Couple In Live-In Relationship Has Baby In Jharkhand

A 14-year-old girl who is in a live-in relationship with a boy two years older than her gave birth to a baby in Khunti district of Jharkhand, prompting the administration to decide on intensifying its campaign to prevent early marriage and pregnancy, an official said on Wednesday.

The girl, who has been living with the boy with the consent of their parents following a tribal tradition, delivered a baby girl at Sadar Hospital in Khunti late Tuesday night, district Child Protection Officer Altaf Khan said.

"We have been carrying out awareness campaigns in association with NGOs and civil society organisations against child marriage and child labour. However, we will be intensifying it in each of the 86 gram panchayats we have in Khunti," Khan told PTI.

This is the only way to prevent such happenings at the village level, he said.

"We hope that comprehensive awareness by educating communities and minors, especially the health and mental issues and educational and societal consequences faced due to early pregnancy, will dissuade the new generation from such practices," added Khan.

He said that the 14-year-old girl from a village in Keora panchayat was admitted on Tuesday to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Murhu. She was accompanied by her mother and the 16-year-old boy, who is not her husband but lives with her under the 'Dhuku' (live-in relationship) tradition of the tribals.

The CHC referred her to the Sadar Hospital, where she underwent a normal delivery and gave birth to a baby girl at just seven months of pregnancy, the official said.

The mother and the baby are fine, and they will be under observation for some time in the hospital.

"The family reported that the girl has been living in a rented house 14 kilometers from Murhu to pursue her studies and was a ninth-grade student at a local school. During this time, she met the boy from a neighboring village in the Murhu market. The two developed a relationship, and the girl became pregnant some time later," he said.

The girl has reportedly dropped out of school, while the boy, who has lost his father, lives with his mother. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)