Bombay HC Allows Child Marriage Victim To Get Her Pregnancy Terminated Over Foetal Abnormalities

The Bombay High Court on Thursday has permitted a teenager, a victim of child marriage, to undergo medical termination of her 28-week pregnancy on the grounds of foetal abnormalities.

A division bench of Justices PD Naik & NR Borkar in its order of April 12 also noted that the girl was “HIV seropositive”. A copy of the order was made available today.

THE CASE

The 17-year-old girl filed a petition in high court seeking permission to get her pregnancy terminated saying scans had shown that the foetus had skeletal anomalies with the possibility of genetic abnormalities.

Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, a court nod is required to terminate a pregnancy beyond 24 weeks of gestation.

DETAILS

Furthermore, the high court relied on a report submitted by the medical board of the state-run Sassoon General Hospital in Pune that recommended termination of the pregnancy as the girl is a minor and a victim of child marriage with “HIV seropositive status”.

The board in its report stated that the foetus also has several defects.

The high court stated it was allowing termination of pregnancy taking into account the mental and medical situation of the girl.