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Gujarat High Court rejects rape victim's request for abortion

The court said that law does not permit termination of pregnancy beyond 20 weeks. "However harsh one may find the law, it is remains the law and one has to respect it," the court said.

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The Gujarat high court on Thursday rejected a petition by a rape victim that she may be allowed to terminate her 28-week pregnancy, borne out of the heinous act.

The court said that law does not permit termination of pregnancy beyond 20 weeks. "However harsh one may find the law, it is remains the law and one has to respect it," the court said.

The single-judge bench of justice JB Pardiwala said that the applicant will have to bravely go ahead with the pregnancy and deliver the child. The court also pointed out that she must understand that termination of pregnancy at this stage would put her own life at risk.

He also clarified that if labour is induced for carrying out termination of pregnancy, in every possibility, the same would result in the live birth of a newborn as the maturity of foetus is 28 weeks.

"I am conscious of the fact that to carry a child in her womb as a result of conception through an act of rape is not only traumatic for her, but also humiliating, frightening and psychologically devastating. As a human being, more particularly in Indian society, she becomes an object of scorn and ostracisation, which is very unfortunate," the court said.

The Directions

The court directed the district superintendent of police, Botad, to take over the investigation of the rape complaint filed against seven accused, four of whom are still at large. It directed him to ensure that the four are arrested at the earliest. The Botad collector has also been directed to keep a tab on the applicant and her family members, including her husband, who has threatened to disown her, if she does not get rid of the child. The collector also has to ensure proper medical facilities to the applicant and to see to it that the child is delivered safely and is looked after well and not abandoned.

What the court considered in the petition

Justice JB Pardiwala considered two questions:

1. Is the foetus a human being with a fundamental right to life?

2. Does a woman have the right to chose whether or not to have an abortion?

What the judge reminded the rape victim

He reminded the applicant about Helene Evans, a similar rape victim, who had said: "After the abortion, I wanted to die. How could I live when I had just ended the life of my child? The negative feelings resulting from rape were not eliminated by abortion. Nothing was solved; instead, the grief was now doubled."

The background of the case

The applicant, married and having two kids, was under forceful confinement of the seven accused and they raped her between July 13, 2014 and March 14, 2015. Before she could be rescued, she was 24-week pregnant. The victim then approached the principal civil judge, Dhandhuka, for termination of pregnancy, which was rejected on March 26. After this, she moved the high court. Out of the seven accused, three have been arrested. She had prayed to the court that if she is not permitted to terminate pregnancy, her family life would be ruined and she might be disowned by her husband.

It's easy for a judge....

I am conscious of the fact that it is easy for a judge to say so in his judgment because it is ultimately the applicant who will have to face the hard days ahead.

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