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A 12-year-old deaf and dumb girl had been repeatedly raped by her neighbour and became pregnant.
The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday a 12 years old deaf and dumb rape survivor to undergo medical termination of her 25 weeks pregnancy.
Court directed the Principal of Jawahar Lal Medical College, Aligarh to ensure that the termination of pregnancy is carried out in presence of Head of Department of Obs & Gynae of the Medical College.
Moreover, court directed that adequate post-operational medical facilities be provided to the girl by the Medical College free of cost.
The rape survivor had moved the court through her mother seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy. It was alleged by her mother that she had been repeatedly raped by her neighbour and since she was mute, she could not tell about it to her earlier.
On June 15, 2023, the mother found out about the rape and when she inquired, the girl then communicated in sign language that she had been raped on multiple occasions.
Consequently, the mother lodged an FIR, and a case was registered under Sections 376, 354C IPC, and Sections 3, 4, 7, 8 of the POCSO Act at Police Station Khurja Nagar, District Bulandshahar.
Thereafter, the medical examination of the victim was conducted on June 16, where it was found that she was carrying a pregnancy of 23 weeks.
The mother then moved a representation on June 26 before the concerned authority with a request for termination of pregnancy, but since it was found that the girl was suffering from severe anemia and the period of pregnancy had already gone beyond the allowed period of 24 weeks, permission from the court was required.
The high court, on July 10, had ordered for constitution of a medical board to assess the girl's condition and sought a report by July 12.
The medical board in its report opined that the termination should be allowed as continuation of pregnancy will pose a greater risk to the girl's physical and mental health due to her tender age of 12 years. The mother of the girl had also given her consent to the termination.
Considering the facts and circumstances and the medical report, the bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar opined that it would be "just, legal and appropriate" to order termination of pregnancy of the girl.
The court will again hear the matter on July 17, 2023 for further orders.
Advocate Raghav Arora appeared for the petitioner and Additional Chief Standing Counsel Ambrish Shukla appeared for the State respondent. Advocate Shashank Shekhar Singh represented Aligarh Muslim University before the court.
Case Title: Ms X v State Of UP and 4 Others
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