Mumbai: 

Helpless: Haresh and Nikita Mehta outside the HC yesterday. PIC/BIPIN KOKATE

Haresh Mehta is a broken man today. The Bombay High Court's decision not to allow his wife Nikita to get her 25-week-old foetus aborted means she will now have to give birth to a baby with a heart problem. "We are very disturbed. This judgement has broken our faith in the justice system. We don't want to continue with the legal proceedings. There's no point in it," Haresh told MiD DAY from his Bhayander home after the verdict.

Despite the judgment, Haresh does not regret approaching the court. "Many people want to get their way by bypassing the law. But we are not like them. The judgment may not be in our favour, but we made the correct decision because we know we were trying to do the right thing. But it seems no one is willing to change the system."

The Mehtas had approached the court asking for the right to abort the foetus, after it was diagnosed with a congenital heart problem. The baby will need a permanent pace maker.

In India, it is illegal to abort a foetus that is more than 20 weeks old. In the UK and many US states, the limit is 24 weeks.