Court: Allowed termination at an advanced stage only because the girl was found to have been impregnated by her brother, also a minor.
Kerala High court permits 30-week pregnancy of minor (Representative image: Creative Commons)
Expressing extreme anguish over repeated incidents in which minor girls were being impregnated by close relatives, the Kerala High Court on Saturday, 23 July, urged the state’s Education Department to thoroughly review the sex education curriculum in schools and make modifications to address this challenge.
Justice VV Arun made the appeal while allowing a 13-year-old girl to medically terminate her 30-week pregnancy.
He has directed the state government to constitute an expert medical team to conduct the procedure.
The court said it had permitted medical termination at an advanced stage only because the person found responsible for the pregnancy is the girl’s brother, also a minor.
It was only last week that the same judge ordered medical termination of the 24-week pregnancy of a 15-year-old girl, a rape survivor.
As in the former case, the judge said the government hospital where the procedure is to be conducted should ensure the best medical treatment available to the girl and the baby if it is alive at birth.
In the earlier case, the court had said that if the rape survivor was not ready to assume responsibility for the newborn, the state and its agencies must take full responsibility.
“In this case, the victim was unaware she was pregnant. It was only when she approached a doctor with stomach pain that the doctor confirmed it as pregnancy, and that too at an advanced stage,” the court order stated.
“The decision follows deep thought over the vexed issue. The mental stigma and physical condition of the girl have been considered while deciding in favour of medical termination,” the judge said.
The judge asked the government to initiate large-scale awareness drives on the internet and on social media.
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