The Allahabad High Court has made an important comment in the case related to the pregnancy of the victim who was raped at the age of just twelve years. The court has said that no woman can be forced to give birth to the child of the rapist. Please tell that the accused had 25 weeks of pregnancy in the victim’s stomach.
The Court said that by denying a woman the termination of pregnancy and binding her with the responsibility of motherhood would amount to denying her human right to live with dignity. The rape victim has every right to decide the condition of her body. This remark was made by the division bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar while hearing the petition filed by the rape victim’s mother.
In view of the sensitivity of the case, the court has directed the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University on humanitarian grounds to form a team of five doctors from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Jawahar Lal Medical College, Aligarh, and conduct a medical examination of the victim. The court has said that one member each of the anaesthetist, radio diagnosis department should also be included in the team.
Please inform that the rape victim is deaf and dumb. She cannot tell her ordeal to anyone. Her neighbor sexually assaulted her several times. Whose information he gave symbolically to his mother. After this, on the complaint of the mother, an FIR was lodged against the accused under the POCSO Act.
When the medical examination of the victim was done on June 16, 2023, 23 weeks of pregnancy was detected. When the matter was placed before the Medical Board on June 27, it was given the opinion that the pregnancy is more than 24 weeks. That’s why permission of the court is required before getting the abortion done. According to Section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, the time for termination of pregnancy of a woman is not more than 20 weeks. Abortion can be permitted only under special circumstances. It will be seen whether there will be any serious harm to the life or physical health of the woman.