Nine-year-old girl in China has reportedly become one of the world’s youngest mothers after giving birth to a boy by Caesarean section.
According to reports, the girl was brought to a hospital in Changchun, when she was more than eight months pregnant.
The child comes from the nearby town of Songyuan. Her family refused to discuss the pregnancy, but confirmed they had reported it to the police.
Sex with a child under 14 is illegal in the province and brings an automatic rape conviction and long jail term. Police were yesterday trying to track down the father. One legal expert said any claim to consensual sex as a defence was “untenable”.
He added: “Anyone who had sex with a girl under 14 means they’ve committed rape and is to be punished severely.”
In Shanghai, China’s largest city, one hospital recently said that about 30% of abortions were carried out on school-aged girls.
The world’s youngest mother was five-year-old Lina Medina of Peru, who gave birth in 1939. Her father was arrested on suspicion of sexual abuse but was later let go.
