13-year old 'virgin' delivers 2-kg baby

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The bloodless birth of a baby girl to a 13-year-old last weekend has been labeled as "a gift from God" by the new mother's religious parents who say their daughter is still a virgin.

The young mother, Uswatun Hasanah (Wawah), a student at Putat Islamic boarding school in Pasar Kemis district, was lying next to her healthy, two-kilogram newborn when The Jakarta Post visited her house in Kongsi Baru village, Mekarsari subdistrict, Rajeg district, on Monday.

Wawah's father Yono, 44, an ustad (Muslim teacher) who runs the Al Istiqomah boarding school with 50 students right in front of his house, said that at first he had not been able to accept his daughter's pregnancy.

However, he said that after his daughter swore to God and he consulted with three local ulemas, he began to believe that she, just like the Virgin Mary, was pregnant because of God.

He said that early this month, his wife Siti Khadijah and Wawah attended Isra Mi'raj (the birth of prophet Muhammad) ceremony at the boarding school. After the ceremony, Wawah complained that she felt full, a feeling comparable to having eaten too much.

The mother took her daughter to a midwife the following day who said that Wawah was at least four-months pregnant.

The doubtful parents then took their daughter to Sari Asih Hospital on Jl. Imam Bonjol in Tangerang, which confirmed the pregnancy and told the parents the baby was six-month old.

Wawah said at about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday she felt nauseous and as she crouched, the baby's head emerged. She was then laid on the floor and uttered Allahuakbar (God is Great) twice and the baby was delivered.

"I am not ashamed, I did not feel any pain, neither did I bleed as the baby came out," she said.

Saenah, 90, a neighbor who usually helps women deliver babies in the village, testified that Wawah was still a virgin and that she did not bleed when she delivered the baby.

However, Achmad Chaerudin, a religious figure in Tangerang suspected that the family had simply tried to hide the disgrace.

"Medically, there can be no pregnancy without sex," he told the Post.

Lilim, 53, a local resident, said that she believed the birth was because of God Almighty.

"I know that Wawah has never been touched by any man. I also know how her parents educated her. As soon as she graduated from elementary school, her father sent her to an all-women Islamic boarding school."