According to the Allahabad High Court, forcing a female to give birth to a child created as a result of a sexual attack would result in “unfathomable miseries.” This was said by a bench comprised of justices Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Prashant Kumar last week when it directed the formation of a five-member medical board to assess a 12-year-old deaf and mute rape survivor who has requested permission to terminate her 25-week pregnancy.
Last week, the girl’s attorney contended that she was raped and sexually assaulted multiple times by her neighbour but was unable to tell anyone because of her disability. After her mother pressed her, the girl used sign language to tell her mother that she had been raped by a neighbour.
Based on her mother’s accusation, a FIR was then filed against the man under the POCSO Act for rape and other offences. On June 16, 2023, the girl was medically tested and discovered to be 23 weeks pregnant. On June 27, the case was heard by the Medical Board, which informed the girl that because her pregnancy had lasted longer than 24 weeks, she would require court approval to terminate the child.
“Though the statute does not provide for termination of pregnancies over the gestational age of 24 weeks except in the case of detection of substantial foetal abnormalities, the provision in regard to which is Section 3(2B) of the MTP Act,” the court noted after hearing the parties involved. Given the gravity of the situation and from a humanitarian standpoint, the Court asked the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University to advise the Principal of Jawahar Lal Medical College in Aligarh to form a five-member committee. The team, led by the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Anaesthesia, and Radio Diagnosis, will examine the petitioner and submit its findings to the Court on July 12.
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