Raped and impregnated at 12, Mumbai girl has to wait to see if the Supreme Court will allow her to abort as she is in her 27th week, once again putting the focus on termination of pregnancy post 20 weeks
Illustration/Ravi Jadhav
Raped and impregnated at 12, but she has to wait to see if the Supreme Court will allow her to abort as she is in her 27th week, once again putting the focus on termination of pregnancy post 20 weeks. The pregnancy came to light on Wednesday.
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She is now planning to move the apex court, seeking permission to allow her daughter to abort the foetus. Also, a case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has been registered. The 12-year-old, who was raped around six months back, was referred to Dr Nikhil Datar, a gynaecologist who is assisting the family with legal aid for abortion.
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"The family approached me on Wednesday night. After diagnosis, it was found that she was 27 weeks pregnant. In fact, even her mother didn't know about her pregnancy until a day ago," he said.
Dr Datar then informed the police and a case under the POCSO Act was registered against the culprit. He, however, refused to say anything further as the case involves a minor.
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Dr Datar added, "We are waiting to procure all the legal documents before approaching the Supreme Court. The final decision will be taken by the court."
Last month, in a similar case, the court had refused permission to abort to a 10-year-old girl from Chandigarh, who had got pregnant after being raped by a relative.
Also read - Thane: Minor girl repeatedly raped, gets pregnant
Experts said abortion could be life-threatening in certain cases, depending on the individual's age and in what stage of pregnancy she was in. "Abortion for such a young child is problematic, and termination so late even riskier. It's really strange that the family members didn't realise the girl was pregnant until now," said Dr Rajal Desai, a gynaecologist from Mulund.
Dr Datar said, "I think it's too late for the child to abort; it's too risky for her. The family is very disturbed due to this."
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