[News] Girl, 11, raped by stepfather’s dad, 61, is pregnant and family say they will be keeping the baby

An 11-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by her stepdad’s dad and became pregnant will be keeping the baby.

The 61-year-old man attacked the girl at her home in Yapacaní, Bolivia, and is now in custody according to local news outlets.

The victim, along with her 15-year-old sister, had been living with their stepfather’s dad since last February as their parents were working in La Paz.

The family found out that she was pregnant after she told her cousin that she felt strange movements in her belly. Her cousin then told her own mother, the girl’s aunt, who filed a police complaint.

The family initially decided to abort the pregnancy but have since changed their minds, giving written consent over the weekend for the pregnancy to continue.

Giovanni Cabello, the family’s lawyer, confirmed: “This was a decision expressed in the morning and it is inserted in the medical history so that the maternity ward and all its team are proceeding according to the will expressed by the family.”

The family’s lawyer

Cabello also said that the victim is in “adequate condition, she is calm”.

Ana Paola García, CEO of Bolivian charity Women’s House, told local media that the girl “does not want to be a mother” and that she has already been given the first dose of abortion medication.

She said: “What is being done with this creature is a crime.

“It is not possible for us to force an 11-year-old girl to be in a nine-month gestation process, that is torture.”

Doctors and judicial authorities have reportedly advised that the pregnancy should be terminated, with her being so young and it having been as a result of rape.

Abortion is legal in Bolivia when rape or incest is involved.

Bolivian minister Eduardo del Castillo has called for the girl to be psychologically evaluated if the pregnancy is allowed to continue.

“Imagine an 11-year-old girl who has to see her son or daughter as a result of rape every day,” he said.

“We cannot tolerate this type of behaviour within our country and we cannot destroy the life of an 11-year-old girl.”