Betnoti: As teenage pregnancies continue to witness a disturbing surge, a 17 year-old girl delivered a premature baby girl in the washroom of a government hospital in Betnoti in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district. The incident came to light after the accused youth, identified as Sibanarayan Hembram,was arrested by police following a formal complaint by the girl's mother. 

Both the mother and the baby are critical due to complications arising from preterm delivery at seven months. They have been shifted to the district headquartes hospital for treatment. 

As per reports, the teenager, a Plus 2 first-year student studying and living in a private hostel in Betnoti, was in a relationship with Sibanarayan. The couple had physical intimacy but after getting to know about the girl's pregnancy, the boy started avoiding her. 

With the pregnancy progressing, the girl suddenly had abdominal pain and fever on Monday. When she went to Betnoti community health centre (CHC), the doctors found she was around sevenmonths pregnant. After check-up, the girl went to the washroom at the hospital but started having contractions and delivered a baby girl there. 

As the baby was born premature and underweight, both the mother and the newborn were immediately referred to the DHH. "The girl came to the hospital with fever and stomach pain on Monday. I along with my colleague checked her and detected the pregnancy. She then went to the bathroom. After a while, attendants rushed to us and informed that the patient has delivered in the toilet. It was a baby girl. The newborn weighed around 1.5 kg which is way too low. Given the health risks of both the mother and the baby, they were taken to the DHH," said Dr Sipun Panda at Betnoti CHC.

Surprisingly,neither the hostel warden nor anganwadi worker could notice symptoms of pregnancy in the girl until her heath deteriorated.

Police, meanwhile, said that the teen's mother filed a formal complaint following her delivery. "We registered a case under POCSO Act and have detained the accused youth," informed Betnoti SDPO Minati Biswal.