Patna, May 14: A 16-year-old unmarried girl gave birth to a girl child in Rohtas district on Mother's Day. Three days later, she approached police to complain against the child's biological father, also a minor.

The boy (14) was taken into custody after the unwed mother lodged a complaint with the woman police station at Dehri-on-Sone in Rohtas on Wednesday, accusing him of sexual exploitation on the pretext of marriage.

According to the law getting married before the age of 18 is illegal.

The accused was produced before the Sasaram civil court on Thursday, which later sent him to the divisional jail. He has been booked under Sections 376 (rape), 504 (internal insult with an intent to provoke breach of peace) and 34 (common intension) of Indian Penal Code besides relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act, 2012.

Normally, minor offenders are sent to juvenile homes and not jail.

In her complaint, the minor girl alleged that the boy, her neighbour, had lured her into a relationship two years ago, promising to marry her and provide security for her family.

Falling for the promise, she entered into a relationship with the boy. When she conceived, she apprised the boy of her pregnancy and he again gave her assurances of a secured married life. Two days after giving birth at a local hospital on Sunday, she visited the boy's house at New Dilliyan in Dehri-on-Sone and requested his parents to allow her to stay with them. But the mother of the accused got agitated and rebuked her in public, the girl said in her complaint with the police.

The boy's bother not only drove her out of the house but also threatened her with dire consequences.

"She threatened to sue my parents, who work as daily wagers at a local private firm," the minor girl told officials at the district woman police station at Dehri-on-Sone, around 165km west of Patna, on Wednesday.

Though girls are known to conceive after attaining 18 years of age, a Rohtas-based gynaecologist said there are chances of girls conceiving once they attain puberty, that is when they reach 12-13 years of age.

"A number of such cases (girls conceiving below the age of 18) come to me every day. What is a matter of concern is that such cases are increasingly on the rise," the gynaecologist, Neelam, told The Telegraph over phone from Rohtas district.

Rohtas woman police station house officer (SHO) Sweta Swaraj said the accused was arrested on the basis of the girl's complaint. "It is up to the court to decide whether the accused is a juvenile or an adult," she further said. The case has flummoxed authorities as both victim and accused are minors.