BUENOS AIRES – The pregnancy of a 13-year-old girl who has already given birth once before is rocking Argentine society, given that – in addition – authorities are investigating whether her situation was brought about by being raped by her mother’s partner, local media reported.
The girl, whose name has not been made public, had been living with her 32-year-old mother, her stepfather and an 11-year-old sister in a rural part of central Santa Fe province.
She had become pregnant before at age 12 and the father of the first baby is not known, but it is suspected that this second pregnancy could be the result of rape committed by “an in-law, the partner of her mother,” prosecutor Paula Borello told Radio Venado Tuerto.
Borello said that the case was opened “because the school reported it, as a result of the girl’s absence.”
From interviews conducted with the girl and her family, authorities developed the hypothesis that she has a link with an adult male, Borello said.
The prosecutor’s office is investigating “how long the relationship has been going on,” since the girl “evidently was abused earlier than the incident about which we learned,” she said.
In addition, the prosecutor ordered DNA studies to determine the paternity of the first baby, who was born a few months ago, and authorities are waiting for the second birth to perform genetic exams on the newborn.
Furthermore, authorities decided – in an unusual move – to remove both the girl and her sister “from the home where they lived” and have them transferred to the house of a relative, the prosecutor said.
