The Bombay High Court today permitted a mentally challenged rape victim to abort her 22-week-old foetus. In a significant order, the court also ruled that as the victim was mentally challenged and incapable of taking her own decisions, her legal guardian -- in this case her mother -- must be allowed to take the decision on her behalf.

A division bench of Justices R M Borde and Vibha Kankanwadi held that the victim (or her legal guardian) had the right to decide whether she wished to continue the pregnancy which was the result of a sexual assault. The bench cited the Supreme Court's 2009 order that had held that a woman's right to exercise her reproductive choices was part of personal liberty guaranteed by the constitution.