Malappuram: A 17-year-old girl, allegedly impregnated by her lover, has delivered a baby at her home in Malappuram district of Kerala by watching YouTube videos police said on Wednesday.
Both the mother and child, currently admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Manjeri, are doing fine, the police said.
The 21-year-old man, who impregnated her, has been arrested under the provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and IPC Section 376 (Rape), they said.
The incident was reported from an area under Kottackal police station limit in the district.
According to the police, the girl delivered the baby and cut the umbilical cord by watching the video at her home on October 20.
Preliminary investigation revealed that she did not receive any external help in the process, they said.
Her parents came to know about the incident on October 22 when they heard the cries of the baby.
The girl, who delivered a baby boy, developed an infection and had to be taken to the hospital. It was then that the news was known and the hospital authorities informed the police.
The police said the girl, a plus-two student, had managed to hide her pregnancy from her visually challenged mother and father, who works as a night watchman.
According to the Child Welfare Committee, the girl had received medical aid from two hospitals during the period of her pregnancy. The CWC will enquire if there were any lapses on the part of these hospitals.
Both the girl and the man had been in love for quite sometime and the families of the two were planning their marriage after she reaches the legally permissible age of 18, they said.
The girl and her baby are being attended by the man's family members at the hospital but the police have treated it as a case of rape as she is only 17.
She has two siblings. While her older sister is married and staying with her husband, the younger one is staying in an orphanage, police said.
(with inputs from PTI)
