Srinagar, Sep 23: The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has allowed the medical termination of the pregnancy of an 11-year-old girl who was allegedly subjected to sexual assault, holding that the statutory 24-week gestational limit could not, in the circumstances of the case, override constitutional protection.
Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal passed the order on a petition filed on behalf of the minor through her father.
The court was informed that the pregnancy had been assessed at about 22 weeks and five days when a Medical Board examined the girl on September 11, but had crossed 24 weeks by the time the judgment was delivered.
The court directed the authorities to take immediate consequential steps for termination, subject to medical assessment and the safeguards recommended by the Medical Board.
The court considered the minor’s age, the circumstances in which the pregnancy had occurred and the medical opinion placed before it while examining whether termination could be permitted after the statutory gestational limit.
The judgment also records that the person allegedly responsible for the sexual assault had not been identified or arrested at the time of the court’s decision.
The court directed that the minor’s identity and medical particulars be protected and that necessary medical and psychological support be provided.
The case underscores the court’s exercise of constitutional jurisdiction in exceptional circumstances where application of the statutory gestational limit was considered alongside the minor’s fundamental rights and medical circumstances. [KNT]
