JAIPUR: A single-judge bench of Rajasthan high court has permitted a 13-year-old rape survivor to undergo medical termination of her pregnancy of 27 weeks and six days. The court said if the fetus survives, the hospital should make arrangements for incubation, and the child should be brought up at the expense of the state govt. In case of the fetus’s death, the court mandated preservation of the DNA test report.
An FIR of rape was registered on March 3 after the girl’s pregnancy was discovered in hospital. The girl and her family said the accused threatened her to keep quiet.
Survivor asked to appear before medical board today
The rape survivor has been asked to appear before the medical board with parents on Wednesday.
Justice Sudesh Bansal instructed the medical superintendent of Mahila Chikitsalya at Sanganeri Gate, Jaipur, to make arrangements for the procedure. The petitioner’s counsel Sonia Shandilya said, “The petitioner is a minor girl whose parents, too, have given consent for termination of the pregnancy. The parents are agreeable to high risk of surgical intervention. We maintained that it would be gravely injurious to her mental health if her pregnancy is not allowed to be terminated.”
The petitioner added, “We told the court that there are many cases where the high courts and SC have allowed abortion even for a 28-week (7-month) pregnant woman.”
Under the MTP Act, any married woman, rape survivor, disabled woman and minor girl is allowed to abort pregnancy up to 24 weeks.
