40 days on, minor rape victim’s kin look to HC for abortion nod

CHANDIGARH : It was around 40 days ago when the Nuh family had first approached health authorities for termination of pregnancy of their 17-year-old rape victim daughter. But the family will have to wait for another five days for the court to decide whether the pregnancy can be terminated or not, despite the fact that it had approached the high court legal services authority on December 8.

The minor’s pregnancy came to light on November 3 and the FIR was registered on November 9. On November 20, the family formally moved before the local medical authorities to abort the child only to hear a no, asking the family to approach court.

Courts allow medical termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and can make an exception if the foetus is genetically abnormal. The girl was 17 week pregnant, when family had moved health authorities in Nuh and 20 weeks pregnant when the father approached high court. The pregnancy has now reached 23rd week.

The girl was raped in July by local youths on gunpoint, as per the FIR, but due to fear she did not report the matter to family.

“After health officials declined permission to abort the child, they somehow contacted me and upon consultation of the district legal services authority, I asked them to go to the high court. I am surprised how it got delayed,” the lawyer, Manjula from Nuh court told Hindustan Times, who met the family in the first week of December.

As per the girl’s father, he was in Punjab and Haryana high court on December 8 and filed an application before legal services authority the same day. “They told me to wait for four-five days. But I did not get any call from them,” he said.

The lawyer, Kamaldeep Kaur, who has been assigned the case by high court legal services authority, said that she got to know about the matter on December 22.

“I hurriedly filed the case. How it got delayed, I can’t say anything on this” she said, adding that the matter has been adjourned till January 2.

The matter was taken up on Wednesday for first time by a vacation bench and issued notice to Haryana for Thursday. However, the petition got listed before another bench, which has posted the matter for January 2 since the petitioner father failed to file “process fee” for issuing notices to accused persons in the case.