Parents of 10-year-old rape victim refuse to see their daughter’s newborn baby

The parents of a 10-year-old rape victim who has given birth have reportedly refused to see their daughter’s new-born baby.

The victim, who has not been named, has also not seen the baby who was admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit in India.

Reports suggest the parents told their child the large bump in her stomach was a stone in an attempt to protect her from the “gravity of the situation” after she had allegedly been raped by her uncle.

“The 10-year-old’s mother had cried several times. She cried last evening as well. In the morning, she was waiting anxiously with wet eyes,” one of the members of the child welfare committee at the hospital told the Hindustan Times.

“They did not want to listen to anything about the newborn, neither the gender nor the baby’s health status."

Her father apparently found it difficult to stay in the delivery room while his daughter gave birth.

“He made several excuses to exit from the hospital for some time, as he was finding it difficult to face the situation. We provided him full support and told him that his daughter needs him the most,” one of the counsellors at the hospital said.

After complaining of stomach pains, the girl told her mother that her uncle had raped her a half-dozen times when he visited the family home.

He was then arrested, and the parents, after finding out she was pregnant, petitioned the court for an abortion, the Indian Express reported.

This was denied after a district court in the city of Chandigarh, where they live, ruled she was too young and her pregnancy too advanced for an abortion.

The girl was 32 weeks pregnant when the court made its decision in a case that has shocked India and made headlines around the world.

The Supreme Court later upheld the ruling.