Bombay High Court’s bench of Justices A K Menon and Bharati Dangre passed the order to terminate 24-week pregnancy of a minor rape survivor, considering her “tender age” and the fact that she had already suffered enough trauma. After a petition filed by 16 year old girl’s mother seeking permission to terminate. Woman filed the petition earlier this month, after her daughter complained of stomach pain and was taken to a hospital.
According to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, an abortion beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy can be done only after getting the high court’s nod.
She had claimed that she got to know about her daughter’s pregnancy only then. According to the petition, the girl was allegedly raped by a relative’s friend.
The court had last week directed that the girl be examined by a special panel of experts and doctors at the Rajawadi hospital.
The panel had submitted a report to the court, stating that the girl was medically and physically fit for termination of pregnancy.
“We have perused the report. Considering the tender age of the girl and the fact that she has already undergone enough trauma, making her go ahead with the pregnancy would only cause further trauma. Hence, we allow the petition and permit the girl to undergo medical termination of the pregnancy,” the court said today.
It added that the termination of pregnancy should be carried out at the KEM hospital in central Mumbai as it was better equipped in case of an emergency.
