A secondary schoolgirl and her boyfriend have been detained to facilitate investigations into the discovery of a dead baby boy in a toilet water tank at the Butterworth Health Clinic.

The 16-year-old Form Four pupil was picked up at her house in Butterworth around 12.30pm yesterday, about five hours after the body was found.

Her 18-year-old boyfriend was nabbed some four hours later, also in Butterworth.

Initial police investigations revealed that the schoolgirl's father had taken her to the Butterworth Health Clinic when she complained of stomach cramps.

Penang Crime Investigation Department chief, SAC Mazlan Kesah said at the clinic, a doctor was in the midst of examining the girl when she excused herself on the pretext of going to the toilet.

"In the toilet, the schoolgirl gave birth to the baby boy. However, the teenager panicked upon hearing the baby's cries.

"She then placed it in the water tank before heading to the car where her father was waiting outside the clinic," he told reporters after a high policing programme held in Kubang Semang here today.

Mazlan said the teenager did not tell her father what had transpired and they returned home.

Based on investigations, he said the police were successful in tracking down the teenager who admitted having sex with her boyfriend, resulting in the pregnancy.

"However, the girl's family was unaware of the pregnancy. Subsequently, she was sent to the Seberang Jaya Hospital for further examination and has been remanded to assist in the investigations."

Yesterday, a female patient who used a toilet at the health clinic found the dead baby in its water tank.