The 10-year old rape victim, whose pleas for abortion was turned down by the Apex Court recently, delivered a healthy baby girl this morning at a multi-specialty government hospital in Chandigarh.
Doctors went in for Caesarean section as the girl was too young to undergo a normal delivery. The minor mother is stable. The victim was raped for months by her maternal uncle, who has two daughters of the age of the victim. It was during the advance stages of pregnancy that the girl complained of stomach pain, which was later discovered that she was pregnant. By then it was too late for her to abort the foetus.
Given the complexities of the case and the tender age of the minor, it was decided not to reveal to the girl that she had delivered a baby, sources said, adding that all that she was been informed is that she would be operated for stones in the stomach. The newborn is premature and was not shown to the mother. The family of the minor girl want to put the newborn for adoption.
Doctors said the pelvic bones of the girl were not strong enough to push the baby out during labour pain. The delivery was conducted at 35 weeks. The victim’s mother has maintained that her daughter will not be able to face the hardships if she is to bring up her baby. She has to restart her life, study and eventually get married and a baby in the lap would make matters difficult for the small girl, she said earlier.
A local court in Chandigarh had turned down the plea for abortion after doctors cited danger to the minor victim’s life. A division bench of headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar later turned down another plea in the Supreme Court after a medical board warned against abortion as it would risk the girl’s life. The medical board had ruled that abortion would neither be in the interest of girl nor the 32-weeks old foetus. The victim father is a government employee and mother a domestic help.
