An incident which shocked the entire world 85 years ago, still remains an unsolved mystery. As World War II was about to begin in Europe, an incredible and horrifying story unfolded in a small Peruvian village in the Andes mountain range on the other side of the world. A five-year-old girl named Lina Marcela Medina had made the record of becoming the world’s youngest mother by giving birth to a child. Scientists and doctors have scratched their heads for years as to how such a small girl became fully developed and capable of reproducing. An even bigger and deeper question is that who was the person who made Leena pregnant, the mystery of which is still unsolved. Till date no one has been formally convicted in this case.
Let us tell you that Leena’s family lived in extreme poverty and deprivation. After a few months, when Leena’s stomach gradually started to swell, her neighbors started considering her to be the carrier of the child of the “Virgin Mary” or the “Sun God”. The family considered this problem to be a “devil in the stomach” and contacted exorcists and shamans. The exorcists tried many local remedies to overcome this problem, but none of the methods worked. Eventually his father took him to the local hospital. Doctors initially thought it was a tumor, but were later stunned to see that Leena was seven months pregnant. How did this happen? Even the doctors did not understand anything. In this way, on May 14, 1939, at the age of only 5, Lena gave birth to her child.
Lina delivered her baby via C-section, who weighed about 6 pounds (about 2.7 kilograms) at birth and had no complications. The baby was named Gerardo, in honor of the doctor who helped deliver her. Medical records and tests revealed that Lena had attained abnormally early puberty and her sexual organs were fully developed by the time she became pregnant. This is why she was able to conceive at such a young age, the proof of which is still present in the medical records. This strange story of Lena made her headlines across the world, but after this incident she was always reluctant to talk to the press or discuss about this situation.
The son was brought up as his brother!
After giving birth, Gerardo was raised at home, but he was only told that Lina was his elder sister. When he turned 10, he was told the truth that Leena was his mother. However, Gerardo died of bone marrow disease in 1979 at the age of 40. But the most disturbing and unresolved aspect of Lena’s story is who was the person who raped and impregnated her? Leena’s father was initially detained on suspicion, but he was released after the investigation revealed no witnesses or evidence of sexual abuse. Later his uncle and brother also came under investigation, one of whom was suffering from mental illness.
However, the allegations against many people could not be proved later. In such a situation, this mystery still remains unsolved as to how Leena became pregnant? The police also suspected the family gardener, as he had mysteriously disappeared after the news of the pregnancy became public. But even today, after 85 years, no one has been formally convicted in this case and it remains a mystery. It is not known whether Lina Medina, who became the youngest mother, is still alive or not, but if she were alive, she would have been 92 years old. This story remains a wonder for medical science and an unresolved question for social justice.
