The Madhya Pradesh High
Court on Friday allowed a 12 year-old rape victim to get her 19-week-and-six-day pregnancy terminated.
A single HC bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar said since the girl is 12 years old and is a minor, she is not capable of giving consent for sexual intercourse, therefore, termination of pregnancy can be considered as pregnancy is arising out of rape.
"The pregnancy is of 19 weeks and 6 days, which is within the legal limit for termination of pregnancy according to Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act," the order read.
The court issued the directive after taking on record the report of her medical examination of February 13, 2020 carried out by a team of three doctors of Jabalpur's Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Hospital and Medical College.
The court ordered that the foetus be sent to the forensic laboratory for DNA testing, the petitioner's counsel BS Thakur said.
The girl's mother had filed a petition for termination of the pregnancy, Thakur said.
The pregnancy was revealed when the girl underwent a medical examination after she complained of abdomen pain on February 4, 2020.
The girl's parents then lodged a complaint with the police against the unknown rapist, the counsel said.
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