High Court's New Medical Guidelines For Rape Survivors Pregnant Over 24 Weeks

The high court said to force the survivor to give birth to a child of a man who sexually assaulted her would result in inexplicable miseries, and cases where sexual assault results into pregnancy are even more traumatic as the shadow of such tragic moment lingers on each day with her.

Imposing the responsibility of motherhood on a sexual assault survivor would amount to denying her the human right to live with dignity, the Delhi High Court has observed while passing a slew of guidelines for medical examination of such survivors in cases where pregnancy exceeds 24 weeks.

The high court said to force the survivor to give birth to a child of a man who sexually assaulted her would result in inexplicable miseries, and cases where sexual assault results into pregnancy are even more traumatic as the shadow of such tragic moment lingers on each day with her.

It was dealing with a case in which a 14-year-old girl, who got pregnant after being sexually assaulted, sought to undergo medical termination of 25-week pregnancy, which was beyond the permissible limit of 24 weeks.

The court was informed that the survivor's family members are construction workers and she was sexually assaulted while her mother had gone out for work.