An 11-year-old girl in Paraguay who was allegedly repeatedly raped by her stepfather has given birth to a baby girl after she was denied an abortion.
Dr Mario Villalba, director of the Red Cross hospital in Asuncion, said that the baby was delivered by caesarean section and was doing well.
“A baby girl, weighing 3.5kg (7lb 11oz), was born without any complications or anomalies,” he said.
“The post-operative recovery is going very well.”
The authorities’ handling of the case sparked outrage in the overwhelmingly Catholic country, where abortion is illegal except when the mother’s life is at risk.
When the case came to light in May, the unnamed girl was 10 years old and 22 weeks pregnant.
International humanitarian groups argued the girl’s body was not able to support her pregnancy and her life was in danger.
But the government, courts, the Catholic Church and other groups insisted the pregnancy should not be terminated, partly due to its advanced stage.
After the birth, Erika Guevara, Amnesty’s director for the Americas, said: “Only time will tell the true extent of the physical and psychological consequences of her tragic ordeal.
“It is terrifying that her story will remain all too common unless Paraguay does more to protect victims of sexual violence, decriminalise abortion and guarantee the availability of modern contraceptives and access to information about sexual and reproductive rights.”
The girl’s 42-year-old stepfather, Gilberto Benitez Zarate, was arrested in May and is awaiting trial on rape charges.
He faces 15 years in prison if convicted of rape.
Zarate has denied the charges and claimed he had been set up by his girlfriend, the girl’s mother.
The girl’s mother has been charged with negligence.
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