India rape: Child's baby 'was fathered by second uncle'

A 10-year-old Indian rape victim, who gave birth to a baby girl in August, had been made pregnant by one of her uncles, police say.

Police are filing charges against the suspect - who is the second uncle of the girl's to be accused of raping her.

The first uncle has already been held and charged with raping the girl.

But police began looking for a second suspect after forensic tests revealed that the baby's DNA samples did not match those of the first accused.

Chandigarh senior superintendent of police Neelambari Vijay told the BBC that police were now rushing to also file charges against the second uncle - who is the younger brother of the first uncle.

"It's true the Baby's DNA sample has matched that of the [second] uncle," she said.

The next hearing in the case will be held at a local court later on Tuesday.

The first uncle will remain in custody as he is believed to have also abused the child.

The harrowing case of the 10-year-old has made headlines for weeks, both in India and globally, says the BBC's Geeta Pandey in Delhi.

Her pregnancy was discovered in mid-July when she complained of a stomach ache and her parents took her to hospital.

A local court in Chandigarh turned down the abortion plea on the grounds that she was too far into her pregnancy after a doctors' panel advised that termination of the pregnancy would be "too risky". Later, the Supreme Court also refused to allow an abortion for her on similar grounds.

Indian law does not allow terminations after 20 weeks unless doctors certify that the mother's life is in danger.

The girl was not aware of her pregnancy, and was told her bulge was because she had a stone in her stomach, our correspondent adds. She gave birth in August and the baby was given away to child welfare authorities for adoption.

The girl initially told police and child welfare activists that she had been raped several times in the past seven months by the first uncle to be placed under arrest, who is in his 40s.

She had also testified to the court by video link and very clearly named the uncle and revealed facts about her abuse.

The girl's father had told the BBC that the first uncle had not denied the charges against him. Police also said he had admitted to the allegations.

But after his DNA test results did not link him to the baby, police began searching for more suspects - and arrested a second uncle of the girl's in September.

The country's courts have received several petitions in recent months, many from child rape survivors, seeking permission to abort.

In most cases, these pregnancies are discovered late because the children themselves are not aware of their condition.

Earlier this month, a 13-year-old girl was given court permission to terminate her pregnancy at 32 weeks. The boy she was carrying was born alive in Mumbai but died two days later.

In May, a similar case was reported from the northern state of Haryana where a 10-year-old, allegedly raped by her stepfather, was allowed to abort. She was about 20 weeks pregnant, doctors said.

None of the girls can be named for legal reasons.

Sources: Indian government, Unicef