Nithyakalyani Narayanan. V
The Allahabad High Court held that a sexual assault victim cannot be forced to give birth to the child of her assaulter. The court was hearing a request to abort a 25-week pregnancy of a 12-year-old deaf and mute girl who was raped. The Bench further mentioned that fastening the responsibility of motherhood on women who are sexually assaulted is a violation of their right to live with dignity and that the woman has the right to say yes or no to being a mother.
The Bench observed that “Section 3(2) of the MTP Act reiterates that right of a woman. To force the victim to give birth to child of a man who sexually assaulted would result in unexplainable miseries (sic).”
The minor girl was raped and assaulted several times by her neighbour. However, due to her inability to speak, she could not inform anyone for a long time. She later informed her mother via sign language when she was enquired. The mother then lodged an FIR for rape and offences as per the POCSO Act. When the girl was subjected to a medical examination last month, it was found she was pregnant by 23 weeks. An abortion request was placed before a Medical Board on June 27, which informed a Court permission was required for the procedure since the pregnancy had exceeded 24 weeks.
The division bench acknowledged that the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act generally did not permit abortions beyond 24 weeks unless there were significant foetal abnormalities. However, the Bench highlighted that constitutional courts, including the Supreme Court, have allowed abortions for pregnancies beyond 24 weeks in exceptional cases.
Given the urgency of the matter and taking a compassionate view, the Bench ordered a hospital to examine the minor within 24 hours and directed to submit a report in a sealed cover by July 12.
Advocate Raghav Arora appeared for the petitioner.
Name of the Case: X v. State of UP and Others
Bench: Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar
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