Mumbai: Class 10 boy who got 15-year-old pregnant allowed to give exams

The girl, a central Mumbai resident, had to be taken to a civic hospital after experiencing health issues. Representation pic

A 15-year-old boy detained for sexually assaulting a girl of the same age was released on February 29, as both will appear for the SSC exam this week. The cops said that the teenagers were in a consensual relationship, as a result of which the girl got pregnant.

The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) had taken up the case on priority after learning the age of the boy and girl and that they were Std X students. It has also counselled the parents of both to ensure they are not distracted while preparing for the exam and refrain from taunting them or mentioning their situation repeatedly.

According to the police, the girl, a central Mumbai resident had to be taken to a civic hospital after experiencing health issues. After a check-up, it came to light that the girl was four months pregnant.

"The hospital, taking the issue seriously, informed the cops. The police, after speaking to the girl, learnt about the relationship. As the girl is a minor, based on her statement, the Mumbai police registered a case on February 28 and detained the boy a day later. The latter was then produced before the JJB at Dongri," said a police officer.

Meanwhile, the girl was produced before the Child Welfare Committee. "After interviewing the two, we found both were appearing for the SSC exam. The boy was released on the same day following the procedure. The girl was produced before the CWC and later handed over to her parents," said a JJB official.

BoardSpeak

Yashshree Marulkar, principal magistrate, JJB, said, "Both students had scored well in the preliminary exams where the girl secured 74 per cent and the boy 58 per cent. Seeing that both were minors and their education shouldn't be disrupted, we released both of them on a priority basis. Their parents were counselled that the minors should not be disturbed. Education is more important at present and the parents were suggested to stand behind them."

Rupali Patil, principal magistrate, JJB, said, "At such age what is right and wrong is not known to minors. So rather than punishing them, creating awareness that they had made a mistake and protecting them are important. So we counselled them as well as their parents."

Rupali Gothwal, public prosecutor, JJB, said, "Usually, in such cases, it takes time to release the minor who is under investigation. But we notice such cases happen due to a lack of knowledge in school as to what we should not do under the age of 18. Even with consent, it [a sexual relationship] is counted as an offence. Also, the JJ Act claims that instead of punishing a kid, they should be reformed at the prior stage. Education was more important than keeping them punished."

Feb 28
Day case was registered