Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed a minor's abortion who was allegedly sexually assaulted and impregnated by a 34-year-old man. Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya directed the Chief Health Officer of East Medinipur to immediately bring the 13-year-old victim girl to SSKM Hospital from her home in East Medinipur in Kolkata.
The court said the hospital will form a special team of expert doctors to examine the girl. If they think it is possible for the girl to undergo an abortion, then she should get the abortion done within 24 hours. The girl's parents work as migrant workers and live in Assam, however, she and her younger sister live here.
Allegedly, taking advantage of the situation, a person from the neighbouring house physically tortured her. She could not tell anyone because of fear. After she had health issues, the girl was admitted to Digha General Hospital on August 12. The doctor said that the girl was pregnant and the hospital lodged a complaint with the police.
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Later the police handed her over to the Shishu Kalyan Samiti of East Medinipur. After several medical tests, it was revealed that the girl was about 26 weeks pregnant. They were forced to approach the Calcutta High Court for permission to have an abortion.
According to the judge's observation, this incident was very unfortunate for a minor girl and her parents were not aware of the incident. The girl was going through mental agony and fear, she should get all kinds of support from the administration and other authorities in this situation.
The judge directed the SSKM hospital to carry out the abortion of the girl with utmost care. He further directed that the girl should be discharged from the hospital after complete recovery. At the same time, she has only one younger sister at home at the moment. The judge has directed East Medinipur Child Care to see to it that there is no problem. Besides, the court also ordered that the child welfare society should always keep a strict vigil on the girl during difficult times.
