New Delhi, 21 August : The Supreme Court has allowed a 27-week-old pregnant rape victim to have an abortion. In the medical report, even at this stage, it was said that the foetus should be removed safely. The Supreme Court said that if the foetus survives, the hospital will ensure the survival of the child by keeping it in incubation.
The court said that in the event of the child surviving, it would be the responsibility of the government to ensure that the child is adopted as per the law. During a special hearing on August 19, a bench headed by Justice BV Nagaratna noted that the High Court listed the matter for hearing on August 23, despite the fact that the medical board’s report on the matter was received on August 11. The Supreme Court had said that the High Court should have shown haste in this. Despite that, it was ordered to be listed after 12 days. The Supreme Court had ordered the medical examination of the rape victim again, after which the medical report was submitted to the Supreme Court.
In fact, on August 7, the rape victim had sought permission to remove her foetus. At that time, the foetus was 26 weeks old. On August 8, the Gujarat High Court constituted a medical board and summoned the report by August 11. After receiving the medical report on August 11, the matter was fixed for a further hearing on August 23. Meanwhile, on August 17, the High Court dismissed the plea for removal of the foetus but has yet to upload the detailed order of dismissal. After this, the petitioner had approached the Supreme Court, saying that the medical report received on August 11 had said that if the foetus were removed, there would be no harm to the rape victim.
The Supreme Court had said that since the order of the High Court is not with it, the medical examination of the rape victim is ordered again. On August 19 itself, the court ordered the medical examination of the rape victim. The Supreme Court had said that despite getting the medical report, the order to list the case after 11 days is surprising. It is surprising that even the order dismissing the petition dated August 17 has not been uploaded yet.
