By Our legal Correspondent
Kochi: A Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala has allowed the plea of a mother of a 16-year-old rape survivor to terminate medically her daughter’s 26-week pregnancy.
The Bench passed the order while allowing an appeal filed against a single judge’s order declining permission for medical termination of the pregnancy(MTP) of the rape survivor.
The medical board had reported that although the pregnancy had crossed 26 weeks and the ultrasound scan showed no anomalies , medical termination of pregnancy was most appropriate, as continuing the pregnancy would severely impact the mental health of the girl. However, the single judge rejected the medical board’s opinion on the Aground that the board lacked a psychologist among them.
When the appeal came up, the Bench got her examined by a psychiatrist from Government Medical College, Thrissur, who reported that she was experiencing an adjustment disorder with a depressive reaction, that she did not have the mental capacity to continue with the pregnancy and that doing so would be detrimental to her mental health.
The Bench granted permission to terminate the pregnancy, considering all circumstances, including the provisions under Section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, the statutory presumption regarding the mental trauma of a minor rape victim, the psychiatrist’s report, and the wishes of both the petitioner and the minor.
