A teenager in England faces a rare criminal charge for killing an unborn child, who died after he assaulted his girlfriend.
Dusan Bako, 18, is set to to appear in court and is charged with child destruction in connection wit h the assault and the unborn baby’s death. He is accused of punching his pregnant girlfriend, who is 16, in stomach. he was taken to hospital after attack in public park but lost the unborn baby.
Bystanders called emergency medical personnel after the attack, but it was too late to save the baby from dying. Bako was arrested and questioned by police before he was charged with child destruction. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Here’s more on this case:
The alleged incident happened at 3.15pm on Thursday last week when police were called to reports of an assault at Copster Hill Park in Oldham.
The sprawling community area has football pitches, a large children’s play area with wooden climbing equipment and swings and a bowling green.
Police said officers found a 16-year-old girl who had been punched in the stomach.
Detective Chief Inspector Jamie Daniels said: ‘The circumstances surrounding this are exceptionally tragic. We have specially trained officers supporting the girl, who is distraught by what happened in a way I cannot begin to imagine.
‘The incident happened in a public park in broad daylight and we know from what people have already said to us that others may have been present in or around the park who have seen this take place or have information that can help us with this investigation.’
Police said they were treating the tragedy as a domestic incident but would not confirm whether Bako was in a relationship with the teenager or was the father of the unborn baby.
The offence of child destruction came into the statute books with the Infant Life (Preservation) Act of 1929.
It states that anyone who intentionally destroys the life of a child capable of being born alive could be found guilty.
The law stipulates that the foetus would have to be 28 weeks or older for the charge to be made.
