HC allows minor rape survivor to terminate 22-week-old foetus

The Patna High Court has allowed a minor rape survivor to abort her 22-week-old foetus after she petitioned it seeking to terminate her pregnancy.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh directed the AIIMS, Patna, to conduct the procedure without charging her and asked the facility to take precautions for the safety of the petitioner.

The hospital would preserve the terminated foetus for a DNA test in connection with the case, the judge said in his order yesterday.

The judge also ordered the trial court, where the case is pending, to conclude the trial in the shortest possible time.

The girl was 17 years old when she was allegedly raped by a youth of her village in Saran district on August 3 last year.

An FIR in connection with the matter was filed on October 24 after the accused threatened to kill the girl if she disclosed the incident to anyone.

The girl, who lives with her grandparents and her mother, narrated the incident to her father who works in Mumbai. The police complaint was filed after her father returned home.