Class 9 girl delivers baby: Police arrest prime accused in Yadgir district of Karnataka

The police arrested a 30-year-old man in connection with the case of a class 9 student delivering a baby in the government-run residential school in Yadgir district of Karnataka, on August 30.

Superintendent of Police Pruthvik Shankar told The Hindu over the phone, “The accused was arrested by the police.”

He gave the name of the accused as Paramanna Ningappa Wari.

The accused was initially booked under Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita 2023, Sections 4, 6 and 19 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012, and Sections 33 and 34 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 after he was accused of subjecting the victim to sexual assault.

Later, Sections 3(1)(w) and 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, were included after an inquiry revealed that the girl belongs to a Scheduled Tribe, Mr. Shankar said.

“He is being questioned,” the SP said. He added that the other four accused named in the FIR, along with the prime accused, based on a complaint lodged by Nirmala, District Child Right Protection Officer, are also likely to be questioned.

The delivery of a baby boy in the toilet of a government-run residential school by a minor student on August 27 has shaken the people of the State.

Considering the seriousness of the issue, the Karnataka Residential Educational Institution Society (KREIS) suspended the principal, warden and two teachers on the charge of dereliction of duty. A staff nurse, Kaveramma, who was working on contract basis, was relieved from duty.