As Minor Rape Victim Changes Her Mind On Abortion, Delhi HC Says It Wants To Be Sure Of What She Wants

The Delhi High Court has said it wanted to be sure of whether a minor rape victim, who had earlier sought permission to abort terminate her 20-week pregnancy, wanted to go-ahead with the decision before constituting any medical board to assess her fitness to undergo abortion.

A bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice IS Mehta said so while hearing the petition of a 15-year-old, referred to as Ms X, seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy.

The bench noted that when the girl had visited AIIMS, she had told the doctor she did not want to terminate the pregnancy as she had conceived after marrying the accused out of her own freewill.

The bench asked the girl to state in an affidavit why she had changed her mind and what she really wants.

Ms X’s counsel Kamlesh Kumar requested the court to constitute a medical board but the bench said it first wanted to be sure that the victim wants to terminate her pregnancy as submitted in the petition filed through her father.

In this case, the girl was recovered from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh after her father filed a writ of habeas corpus in Delhi High Court.

Back then, she had told the court that she had eloped with the accused, married him and is now carrying his child and did not wish to go back to his parents.

While the man was arrested on November 27, the girl was sent to Prayas Juvenile Centre.

However, on December 8, the girl told Child Welfare Committee that she wished to terminate her pregnancy, following which she was sent to AIIMS.

At AIIMS, she told the doctor she did not want an abortion. Thereafter, she moved the high court through her father seeking permission to terminate the pregnancy.

When the judges spoke with her in chamber, she said she wished to terminate the pregnancy.

"To the court, it appears that the petitioner is prevaricating..," the bench said.

"...the court would want to be sure that the petitioner will not again change her mind. Therefore, the court directs the petitioner through her parents to file an affidavit clearly stating the circumstances under which she changed her mind between December 8 when she appeared before the CWC and December 13, when she went to AIIMS and thereafter, again today while appearing before the court.

"The petitioner should unambiguously state in the affidavit whether she consents to the termination of the pregnancy," the bench ordered granting her liberty to file the affidavit in Hindi.