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Teen forced to give birth in ambulance
BAREILLY: A teenage rape survivor who lost a legal battle to terminate her pregnancy gave birth to a baby boy in an ambulance early Thursday after a nurse refused
BAREILLY: A teenage rape survivor who lost a legal battle to terminate her pregnancy gave birth to a baby boy in an ambulance early Thursday after a nurse refused to assist her in the delivery.
The 14-year-old was repeatedly raped by a man in her western Uttar Pradesh village, promising to marry her. He abandoned her when she conceived. The girl and her family had campaigned unsuccessfully to abort the foetus in a case that highlighted administrative apathy — forced to shuttle between courts and hospital for nearly two months since filing a petition on July 26 seeking permission to terminate the pregnancy.
They were first declined permission for abortion by two courts in Bareilly and finally by the Allahabad high court, which on August 22 ordered the chief medical officer to review her case.
The survivor’s hope of abortion ended on September 12 when a medical panel in Bareilly declined permission, citing advanced pregnancy. By that time, the foetus was older by nearly eight weeks.
At 11pm on Wednesday, the girl was taken to the community health centre at Shergarh in an ambulance after she complained of labour pain.
The auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) at the health centre checked her and informed the family to prepare for delivery. But when she came to know about the rape, she allegedly asked the family to take the girl to the district hospital.
“The ANM asked us to bring her here (district hospital) and returned to her room,” said the girl’s aunt. The family members finally called another ambulance to reach Bareilly. She gave birth to the baby in the ambulance en route the district hospital at 2am.
When asked about the incident chief medical officer of Bareilly, Vijay Yadav refused to pull up the nurse. “The nurse must have referred her to district hospital to avoid any complications during delivery,” he said.
