15-year-old pregnant rape survivor, who was recently granted permission by the Supreme Court to terminate her 7-month pregnancy delivered a baby boy at AIIMS, New Delhi on Saturday, officials confirmed.
“Currently the newborn is under observation at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in AIIMS,” officials said. However, hospital officials said they discharged the girl at her and her parents’ request.
“The condition of the newborn is stable. The baby boy has not suffered any major pre-term developmental health issues. However the newborn has to be under constant monitoring,” officials said.
Officials said the mother and her parents relinquished the child’s rights, the formal adoption procedure for the baby has since begun with the Central adoption agency.
“The family expressed their wish to relinquish their rights to the newborn and we formally accepted their written statement,” officials said.
The apex court on April 24, allowed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP), underscoring the reproductive autonomy of a woman. The court allowed termination despite the pregnancy having crossed the statutory limit under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and held that forcing a minor to continue an unwanted pregnancy would violate her right to dignity, autonomy and personal liberty under Article 21.
The pregnancy, as recorded in earlier proceedings, arose out of a relationship between the minor girl and another minor, though the law treated it as a case of rape given her age.
The court on April 29 dismissed the review petition filed by AIIMS against the direction to medically terminate a 15-year-old girl’s seven-month-old pregnancy.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi stated that priority must be given to the choice of the girl’s family. They advised the institute to explain the procedure’s consequences to the girl’s parents so they could make an informed choice.
“No, we will not allow the institution to choose for the parents. The parents will choose, the institution will enable the choice,” Justice Bagchi said.
The minor girl’s mother approached the court seeking permission for MTP as it had crossed the statutory limit. She moved the Delhi High Court earlier where the request for MTP was rejected on April 21.
