Chandigarh: Denied abortion by SC, 10-year-old rape victim delivers baby girl

Weeks after the Supreme Court refused to allow abortion, a 10-year-old rape survivor on Thursday delivered a baby girl at a government hospital in Chandigarh.

According to doctors, both the children are stable.

"The minor girl delivered a baby through C-section this morning. The infant's weight is 2.2 kg and it has been admitted to neo natal ICU. As far as the girl is concerned, she is stable and will be kept in a separate room," Dr Dasari Harish, chairperson of the committee which had been constituted for treatment of the rape victim, said.

He said the infant was slightly underweight.

The victim had lost the legal battle after the top court refused to allow termination of her 32-week-old pregnancy, relying on a medical report that it would not be good for her or the foetus.

The victim was allegedly repeatedly raped by her maternal uncle who was arrested by the police following a complaint. The incident was reported when the girl was taken to a hospital by her mother after she complained of severe stomach ache on July 15.

The PIL was filed after a Chandigarh district court on July 18 refused to let the girl undergo the abortion after it was confirmed that she was almost 28 weeks pregnant.

The petition, filed by advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, had also sought appropriate guidelines be framed by the top court to set up a permanent medical board in each district of India for expedient termination of pregnancies in exceptional cases involving child rape survivors under the best possible medical facilities.

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.