A seventeen-year-old girl in Kaarithottam, Mezhuveli in Pathanamthitta district, is pregnant and carrying her father’s baby.
The matter came to light after intervention by the district child welfare committee (CWC), and a case has been registered against the man.
The tenth standard student told the police that she dropped schooling after she got pregnant from her father.
The man, Anandhan, 47, a rubber tapper, was arrested by the Pandalam police on Friday.
Sub inspector Lal C. Baby said, “We went to the child’s home after the Child Line activists alerted us.”
“Anandhan approached the child while nobody was at home nine months ago.
The other family members were away attending a marriage,” the SI told DC. The family members kept the matter a secret and the child was kept detained inside the home for the past few months.
Police said the accused would be produced before a court.
The incident came to light as an ASHA worker, Prabhavathi, visited the area for the polio vaccination.
She is the district secretary of Asha workers’ union. “Initially, the mother did not allow us to see her. Following this, I informed the child Line and they sent in the police.”
The police said the parents had approached the Kottayam medical college hospital for an abortion two months ago, but the doctors rejected the plea.
The CWC would now take up the medical care and protection of the girl, considering the poor background of her family.