Kozhikode: She gave birth to a baby one and a half years ago after being raped by a close relative. She is charged with a minor theft, and is sent to two years in a special home, separated from her son. And she is all of 15.

Moved by the plight of the girl, a native of Palakkad, the State Children's Rights Commission has ordered the probationary officers of Palakkad and Kozhikode districts to ensure that the girl stay united with her son.

It has also requested the Palakkad District Legal Services Authority to file an appeal in Palakkad sessions court against the verdict of the Juvenile Justice Board, which sentenced the girl and ordered her separation from son. Her son has been with her mother in Palakkad.

The plight of the girl came to the notice of the Commission last week. “Their separation is also a blatant violation of the law which stipulates that the baby be with the mother up to six years while in custody,”he told DC. “Two years is too cruel. Such harsh punishment to a juvenile is beyond the limits.”