India

Supreme Court allows 13-year-old rape survivor to abort foetus

New Delhi: The Indian Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a 13-year-old rape survivor to abort her 32-week-old pregnancy after taking note of a medical report.

The medical report filed by a board of doctors of JJ hospital Mumbai submitted its report suggesting that the child should undergo an abortion.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar analyzed the medical report and granted the nod for termination of pregnancy.

Section 3(2)(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act prohibits abortion of a foetus after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The late abortion comes after lawyers had argued that carrying the baby to full term would cause the child trauma and agony.

The parents of the 13-year-old girl, allegedly raped by her father’s business partner about six months ago, filed the petition in the Supreme Court seeking permission for medical termination of pregnancy. This, after they realised she was pregnant only four weeks ago. The girl is now in her 31st week of pregnancy.

The apex court asked the hospital authorities to conduct the termination of pregnancy preferably on September 8. “The girl would be admitted a day before,” it said.

The case comes on the back of another plea for abortion by a 10-year-old rape victim from Chandigarh, which was rejected by the Supreme Court after doctors said it would pose a threat to her life. The child had a baby girl last month who was put up for adoption. The child was told that she had been operated on to remove stones in her stomach.

(With inputs from PTI)

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