An 11-year-old girl was delivered of a baby girl on Friday in Asuncion, Paraguay, in a case that sparked outrage from numerous observers.
The family’s lawyer, Elizabeth Torales, told the press at the Reina Sofia hospital that the child mother was delivered of the baby through Cesarean Section and that both the mother and the baby were well.
She said that the baby would remain in hospital for a few days and her mother and grandmother had applied for custody.
Torales said the horrifying details surrounding the young girl’s pregnancy were clouding the future.
She noted that when the case first broke out earlier this year, it was widely reported that the girl had been raped by her stepfather when she was 10.
The lawyer said the man had since been charged and the case was pending in court.
Torales said the 11-year-old’s mother was facing charges of negligence, which would most likely impact her bid for custody of the newborn.
She, however, said the worse news yet came after the government turned down a petition by the mother on behalf of the pregnant girl for an abortion.
Paraguay takes stringent line on abortion, ruling it out in all cases except when the mother’s life is in danger.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International had released a statement following the birth and expressed relief that the mother and the child were healthy, but slammed the government.
It said, “The fact that she did not die does not excuse the human rights violations she suffered.’’
A doctor from Reina Sofia hospital complained that teenage pregnancy is rampant in Paraguay.
He said that two 12-year-old girls were also awaiting delivery at the hospital.
(Xinhua/NAN)
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