The Bombay High Court’s Nagpur bench recently ruled in favor of a 17-year-old sexual assault survivor, allowing her to terminate her pregnancy at 28 weeks and six days. The court emphasized that a woman has the ultimate authority over her body and the right to make decisions regarding her health, including the choice to undergo an abortion. This decision underscores the legal recognition of women’s autonomy in reproductive matters.
An FIR had been registered at Koradi police station on September 6 under sections 64, 70(1) and 137(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. After Bhatia submitted that she could be re-examined after a week, the court directed that the matter be listed again on September 17.
A division bench comprising Justices Anil Kilor and Rajnish Vyas said an unwanted or incidental pregnancy becomes a burden for the pregnant woman, while relying on observations of Supreme Court on a woman’s autonomy in deciding whether to continue a pregnancy. The court was hearing a petition filed by the minor, through her father, seeking permission to terminate the pregnancy. The court had appointed Sweety Bhatia as counsel to represent the minor girl. A fresh report submitted that day stated that the girl was medically and physically fit to undergo termination of pregnancy.
“The survivor and her family members will have to furnish an undertaking of high risk consent and assent before the concerned medical authority,” it said before disposing of the plea. Since the FIR is under investigation, the bench permitted Koradi police to collect samples of the survivor and foetus for DNA testing in accordance with law and while preserving evidence for the criminal case.