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Mumbai: On Monday, The Supreme Court ordered immediate medical termination of the 30-week pregnancy of a 14-year-old rape victim. The court called it an “exceptional case” and allowed the abortion on the basis of a hospital report.
The court also set aside the Bombay High Court order which had refused to allow medical termination of the girl’s pregnancy and said every hour was important for the girl. Indian law requires the court’s permission to undergo abortion beyond 24 weeks of pregnancy.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud ordered Mumbai’s Hospital to constitute a team to conduct medical termination of pregnancy. The CJI said, “We will allow the medical termination since she is 14 and it is a rape case and this is an exceptional case.”
The teenager’s mother had appealed in the Supreme Court after the Bombay High Court refused to allow her abortion on April 4. 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 mother of the rape victim approached the Supreme Court challenging the 2023 order of the Bombay High Court which refused to allow abortion due to the advanced stage of pregnancy.
In February 2023, according to the mother of the rape victim, her daughter went missing and was found pregnant three months later after a man sexually assaulted her in Rajasthan.
A case was registered against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the girl returned to her family.
On April 19, the Supreme Court ordered a medical examination of the rape victim. It had sought a report from Mumbai’s Sion Hospital about the possible physical and psychological condition of the girl if she is to undergo abortion or is advised not to do so.
