New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday ordered immediate medical termination of the 30-week pregnancy of a 14-year-old rape survivor.
It also set aside a Bombay High Court order, which declined to allow medical termination of the girl’s pregnancy, ruling that every hour was crucial for the girl.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud ordered Sion Hospital in Mumbai to constitute a team to conduct the medical termination of the pregnancy.
The bench ordered the hospital to ensure that the minor was safely taken to the medical facility and that the Maharashtra government had agreed to bear the expenses of the procedure.
The rape survivor’s mother had approached the Supreme Court, challenging the Bombay High Court’s 2023 order declining to allow the termination of the pregnancy owing to the advanced stage.
According to the rape survivor’s mother, her daughter had gone missing in February 2023 and was found three months later in Rajasthan, pregnant after a man sexually assaulted her.
A case was filed against the man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and the girl returned to her family.
Accepting the plea filed by victim’s mother, the court exercised its power under Article 142 to order immediate termination of the pregnancy of the minor, specifying her age and the alleged sexual assault. “Bearing in mind the exigency of the situation and well-being of the minor, we set aside the order of the Bombay High Court,” said the bench, directing a panel of doctors at Sion’s Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital in Mumbai to carry out the termination of pregnancy.
The Supreme Court April 19 ordered a medical examination of the rape survivor.
It had sought a report from Mumbai’s Sion Hospital about the girl’s possible physical and psychological condition if she undergoes medical termination of pregnancy or if she was advised against it.
The bench had directed the medical superintendent of the hospital to constitute the medical board and its report be placed before the court April 22, the next date of hearing.
During the hearing today, the dean of the Sion Hospital submitted the report, which stated that the minor was examined by a team of six doctors.
Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, the upper limit for termination of pregnancy is 24 weeks for married women as well as for those in special categories, including rape survivors, and other vulnerable women, such as specially abled and minors.
PNN & Agencies