Delhi High Court: The Delhi High Court has issued guidelines regarding the medical examination of the rape victim when her pregnancy is more than 24 weeks. The High Court said that imposing the responsibility of motherhood on the victim of sexual assault amounts to a violation of her human right to lead a dignified life. Along with this, the court also said that in such cases there is a very deep wound.
The Delhi High Court observed that forcing a victim to give birth to a child of a man who sexually assaulted her would cause untold suffering and that cases of rape/sexual abuse where the victim becomes pregnant are deeply traumatic as the woman He has to live every moment in the shadow of that accident that happened to him.
Hearing on rape case of 14 year old girl
In fact, the High Court is hearing a petition seeking permission to abort her 25-week-old fetus by a 14-year-old girl who became pregnant due to sexual abuse. Generally abortion of fetus up to 24 weeks can be done, permission of the court is necessary for abortion of fetus older than that. The court has been told that the girl’s family works as a laborer in the construction sector and the girl was raped after her mother went to work.
What did the court say?
Justice Swarnakant Sharma allowed the abortion of the minor on the basis of the consent of the girl’s mother and the report of the medical board that examined the girl. The court asked the girl to appear before the competent authority at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital on Friday so that she could be terminated.
Along with this, the court also noted that in case of pregnancy of 24 weeks or more, the danger to her life has increased due to the lapse of significant time in the process of passing the order of the medical board for medical examination of the victim of sexual assault, The High Court issued guidelines for the investigating officers.
Guidelines given to these people
These guidelines will be made available through the Commissioner of Police to all investigating officers including officers involved in the medical examination of the sexual assault victim, wherein urine test for detection of pregnancy will be mandatory, as it has been observed in many cases. Checking is not done. The court said that if the victim of sexual assault is an adult and wants to have an abortion, the investigating agency must ensure that the woman/girl is produced before the medical board on the same day.
The court said, “If the minor sexual assault victim is pregnant, if she has the consent of her legal guardian and if the guardian wants to have an abortion, then the victim should be produced before the medical board.” If permission is needed, in such a situation, after the test, the report should be placed before the concerned authorities so that the concerned court does not waste time and is in a position to pass orders quickly.
The court said – the soul trembles
The court said that the soul trembles to think that what would happen to the victim who is carrying such a fetus in her womb, which every moment reminds her of the rape that happened to her. The court said that binding the victim with the responsibility of motherhood in a sexual assault case would tantamount to denying her the human right to live with dignity, as she has the right to take decisions regarding her own body, including whether to become a mother “yes”. The right to say ‘or no’ is also included.
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