Court allows woman arrested in drugs case to get her pregnancy terminated

A special NDPS court has allowed a woman, arrested by the NCB for possessing drugs, to terminate her pregnancy as she is not mentally prepared to have a baby.

A special NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act) court on Thursday permitted a 34-year-old woman, who was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for allegedly possessing 15 kg of mephedrone, to get her pregnancy medically terminated.

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At the time of her arrest on June 10, NCB sleuths also seized ₹1.10 crore in cash from her.

Her lawyers, Ayaz Khan and Zehra Charania, approached the special court on June 23, stating that she was not mentally prepared to carry the pregnancy to full term and give birth to a baby.

In a handwritten letter giving consent for termination of pregnancy, the woman pleaded that when she was in the NCB custody, she was taken for a medical examination when for the first time she learnt that she was pregnant.

She was remanded in judicial custody till June 16, and was lodged in Byculla women’s prison. There, she was again taken to the in-house medical officer as her health deteriorated and the prison doctor confirmed that she was six-week pregnant, the petitioner said.

In her letter addressed to the court, the woman claimed that with the “present prosecution” (case being probed by the NCB), she was not mentally prepared to have a baby and therefore she first approached the jail doctor for termination of the pregnancy. “However, the jail doctor informed me that I needed to obtain an order from the court for this.” Hence, the woman’s lawyers moved the court for permission to get the pregnancy terminated.

“My husband and I had not planned this pregnancy,” the woman said, adding that she already had three children, and all of them were minor and her husband too was arrested in the same case by the NCB, a month after her arrest.

Her lawyers claimed that the woman’s health was deteriorating, and she had several other health issues like diabetes and her blood pressure was fluctuating. Also, by now she was said to be 13 weeks pregnant, and termination of the pregnancy was not legally allowed after 24th week, they said.

Considering the urgency, special NDPS judge RR Bhagwat allowed the woman’s plea.

As per the case registered by the NCB, they raided a premises in Dongri on June 9 and seized 5 kg of mephedrone. Later in the day, the agency raided the house of the woman and seized 15 kg of mephedrone and ₹1.10 crore in cash. The woman, along with two other accused, was called for questioning on June 10 when she was placed under arrest.

The agency claimed that the woman in her statement admitted that her husband was involved in the business of procuring and selling mephedrone, and other accused were his close aides. Her husband who is said to be heading the alleged drug gang was arrested on July 6 after he surrendered before the NCB.