Rape victim, 10, gives birth to baby girl after Indian Supreme Court refused abortion

A 10-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by her uncle before being denied permission for an abortion by the Indian Supreme Court has given birth to a baby girl.

The girl alleges that she was raped by the relative several times over a seven-month period by her uncle, who has been subsequently arrested.

The girl, from Chandigarh, in northern India, had said that she did not know she was pregnant and when she went to hospital doctors told her she had a stone in her stomach.

Then in mid-July she complained of stomach ache and her pregnancy was discovered.

The baby girl, who weighed around 5lbs, was delivered prematurely at 35 weeks via c-section with both mother and baby stable, reported BBC News.

Dr Dasari Harish who treated the girl said according to the Metro: "The minor girl delivered a baby through C-section this morning.

"The infant's weight is 2.2 kg and it has been admitted to neo natal ICU. As far as the girl is concerned, she is stable and will be kept in a separate room."

As the baby has been placed in the neo-natal intensive care unit and will be put up for adoption after the parents of the 10-year-old girl said that they did not want a relationship with the baby.

The case has made headlines in the country after a local court in Chandigarh turned down the abortion plea on advice of a doctors' panel who said that a termination of the pregnancy would be "too risky".

The case was then taken to the Supreme Court of India who also refused to allow an abortion for her on similar grounds, saying the pregnancy had gone too far.

Indian law prohibits terminations after 20 weeks unless doctors certify that the mother's life is in danger and even then an absolute limit is 30 weeks.

Officials in the country have said that this is the first-ever case of a child so young giving birth despite several cases of child rape victims seeking to terminate pregnancies after 20 weeks.