16-year-old moves HC with abortion request
The girl’s father filed a habeas corpus petition in the high court, which stated that her minor daughter is missing and the police has failed to find her.
A 16-year-old girl has moved a plea in the Rajasthan High Court seeking to abort a 26-week foetus.
Hearing the petition, the HC on Friday directed the state government to form a medical board to give specific opinion that allowing the victim to terminate her pregnancy will be dangerous to her life or not.
The high court has asked the medical board to submit its report by Monday.
The girl’s father filed a habeas corpus petition in the high court, which stated that her minor daughter is missing and the police has failed to find her. After the court directives, police investigation revealed that the girl has got married, while according to the petition, the girl was told to be a minor. The police produced the girl in the court, from where she was sent to Nari Niketan.
On Friday, counsel Rajendra Singh Charan, on behalf of the girl, said in the court that the minor should be permitted to terminate her pregnancy.
”As per the material available on record, the girl is carrying foetus of about 26 weeks. Thus, we direct that the girl shall be presented before a medical board comprising of three gynecologists, at the MDM hospital, Jodhpur on Saturday. The medical board shall medically examine the child and forward its report to this court with a pertinent opinion in reference to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act whether it would be safe to abort/terminate the pregnancy of the girl at this stage,” a division bench, comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta and justice Abhay Chaturvedi said.