A 10-year-old rape survivor underwent a C-section and delivered a baby at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) Chandigarh on Thursday morning. The 10-year-old girl had approached the Supreme Court with an abortion plea in July but her request was turned down by the apex court.
The 10-year-old was not even aware that she was pregnant. Her parents had informed her that she had to undergo an operation for a stone in her stomach. Both the newborn and the girl are not stable and will be kept under supervision at the hospital until they recover.
“The baby weighs 2.2 kg and is underweight. She is kept in the neonatal intensive care unit. While the girl is in the intensive care unit as she has stitches post delivery,” a doctor said.
The doctors decided to operate on the girl after they examined that her pelvic bones were not strong enough to bear labour pain for a normal delivery. The girl’s father has requested the hospital authorities to put the newborn up for adoption.
The girl was repeatedly raped by her uncle for months. Her parents also did not know about her condition till they took her to the doctor after she complained of stomach pain.
She had filed a plea for abortion in in July in a the lower court seeking permission to abort her foetus but her request was turned down. A Chandigarh court had given its judgement on the basis of a report from GMCH which warned that there could be “high chances of physical trauma”, considering the girl’s age and health.
The case also went to the Supreme Court but the apex court bench also refused the termination of her pregnancy as she was 26-week pregnant. As per the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, termination of pregnancy beyond 20th week is not allowed.
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