Rape Victim Has Right to Abort Pregnancy: Allahabad HC

Allahabad: A victim of rape cannot be forced to give birth to the child of a man who sexually assaulted her, stated Allahabad High Court on Tuesday.

While hearing the writ petition filed by a 12-year-old rape victim, the High Court bench comprising Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar made this observation.

The deaf and dumb survivor had pleaded before the court to terminate her 25-week pregnancy.

“In the case of sexual assault, denying a woman the right to say no to medical termination of pregnancy and fasten her with the responsibility of motherhood would amount to denying her human right to live with dignity as she has a right in relation to her body which includes saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to being a mother,” the bench observed.

When the pregnancy of the victim was placed before the Medical Board on June 27, her pregnancy had exceeded 24 weeks, and the court’s permission was required for abortion. Hence, she filed the petition.

Considering the urgency in the matter and taking a humanitarian view, the court requested the vice-chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University to direct the principal of Jawahar Lal Medical College, Aligarh to constitute a five-member team to examine the petitioner on July 11 and submit its report before the court on July 12.