Nithyakalyani Narayanan. V
The Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court has rejected the plea of a 15-year-old rape victim’s mother to abort her 28-week pregnancy because the doctors stated that the baby would be born alive if termination of pregnancy is performed at this stage.
The mother of the victim said that her daughter went missing in February 2023. The police found her after three months in Rajasthan with a man. A case was filed against him under POCSO Act. After examining the girl, the medical board declared that even if abortion is performed for the raped minor girl, the baby would be born alive. They also mentioned that the baby so born, would have to be admitted to a neonatal care unit and the life of the minor would be at risk too.
A division bench comprising Justice R V Ghuge and Justice Y G Khobragade held that if a child is going to be born even if the termination is performed, then might as well let the baby be born full-term. The court remarked that “If in any case the child is going to be born and the natural delivery is just 12 weeks away, we are of the view that the health of the child and its physical and mental development need to be considered.”
The petitioner then requested the court to permit the girl to be kept in any NGO or hospital until she delivered the baby. The court directed that the minor could be kept either at a shelter home for pregnant women in Nashik or the government’s shelter home for women in Aurangabad. The court added that after the baby is delivered, the minor can decide whether she wants to keep the baby or give the child up for adoption.