RSS Feed (xml)Ahmedabad: Caught between the law of the land and social stigma, a 13-year-old rape victim has knocked on the doors of the Gujarat high court for permission to terminate her pregnancy.
The girl moved the high court after the local court in Surendranagar rejected her petition for this. Earlier, local doctors had also refused to terminate her pregnancy saying it was a case of rape and they needed a court’s order to perform the procedure. The minor girl from Halvad taluka in Surendranagar district was allegedly raped several times by her neighbour, Ghanshyamsinh Rajput, for nearly one year.Though she was sexually abused for such a long time, she had kept quiet out of fear of Rajput who allegedly kept threatening her. But when the girl underwent certain physical changes, she brought them to the notice of her parents who found that she was pregnant. Her parents then lodged a complaint against Rajput at Halvad police station. Rajput was arrested for rape.
On learning that their daughter was pregnant, the girl and her parents approached local doctors for termination of the pregnancy. But the doctors refused.
After this, the girl and her family members filed a petition at the local court in Surendranagar but the court rejected their plea on March 30. Then the family members approached the high court. In the petition filed before the high court, the rape victim’s family members have stated that the girl is two-and-a-half months pregnant.
They have prayed that her pregnancy be allowed to be terminated as she will have to suffer humiliation because of it and also because she was too young to bear the responsibility of motherhood. After preliminary hearing of the petition on Tuesday, justice AS Dave of the high court issued notices to the investigating officer of Halvad police station and posted the case for further hearing on April 28.
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