Termination of rape survivor’s pregnancy stuck

Lucknow: A 14-year-old Dalit rape survivor from Lakhimpur Kheri, whose unwarranted pregnancy was ordered to be terminated by the high court on September 14, was on Tuesday referred to Queen Mary’s Hospital in Lucknow.
Examined by a team of doctors at the district women’s hospital in Lakhimpur Kheri on Tuesday, the minor was found to be 22 weeks, 3 days pregnant with complications.
She was expected to reach Lucknow by late Tuesday night.
The girl, allegedly raped by a relative who is now in jail, was found to be 16 weeks pregnant in August when she complained of stomach ache and was taken to the doctor.
“An FIR was lodged in the case. After we approached the high court, the order to medically terminate the unwarranted pregnancy was given. Since the family’s financial condition is unsound, the court further observed that all treatment and procedures will be done free of cost,” said lawyers Haider Rizvi, Nadeem Murtaza and Aditya Vikram Singh.
A court-appointed medical board gave details of the pregnancy and said the minor is physically weak. TOI has a copy of the report. The court had also said that the unwanted pregnancy was a cause of constant trauma for the girl.
“Since the September 14 order, we kept asking the Kheri chief medical officer to form the team for investigation, but things got delayed. Every day counts for the girl now. If the hospital had informed us it was inept in following through with the process, we could have sought a pregnancy termination order for Lucknow and not wasted time,” said Rizvi.
When TOI spoke to KGMU vice-chancellor Lt Gen (retd) Dr Bipin Puri and Queen Mary’s Hospital medical superintendent Prof SP Jaiswar, they assured full cooperation in the case.
“Since it is a medico-legal case, we will have to follow protocol and get examination done at our facility too. We will do our best possible to help the girl,” said Dr Puri.