The Sampadak Express News Desk
The Delhi High Court has permitted the termination of a 31-week pregnancy of a 16-year-old rape survivor in New Delhi, ruling that it would be inappropriate to expect the minor to bear the burden of childbirth and parenthood. The Hindu reported the order on October 19, 2026.
Justice Mini Pushkarna observed that allowing a minor who is a victim of sexual assault to end a pregnancy is not only a matter of reproductive choice but must also be recognised as a human right, as denial would affect the dignified existence of the survivor.
“Thus, it was held that it would not be appropriate to expect the minor rape victim to take the burden of giving birth and raising a child, especially in a situation where she herself is passing through the age of adolescence,” Justice Pushkarna said.
The court recorded the opinion of a medical board that the girl was medically fit to undergo the procedure and allowed the request in the best interest of the minor. Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, abortions are ordinarily permitted up to 20 weeks and up to 24 weeks in specified categories, including rape survivors.
The court was informed that the survivor had already been admitted to Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital in New Delhi. It directed the doctors to preserve foetal tissue for DNA testing required in the related criminal case and ordered the State to bear the costs of the medical procedure.
The bench further directed that if the child is born alive, the hospital’s medical superintendent must ensure all possible assistance to the baby. “In that case, as per the wish of the minor and her family, such child be given in adoption as per the prescribed procedure. The identity of the petitioner/minor survivor shall be strictly protected,” the court said.
The order was passed on a plea filed on behalf of the girl, who became pregnant following sexual assault. The survivor and her mother sought termination on the ground that continuing the pregnancy would cause grave mental injury to the minor.
