Nagpur: A murder convict, who was raped while on bail, moved Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Wednesday, for termination of her pregnancy. Through her counsel SH Bhatia, the woman, undergoing life imprisonment in Amravati Central Prison, prayed for directives to District General Hospital at same place, to terminate her 11-12 weeks old pregnancy.
A division bench comprising justices Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Zaka Haq directed the respondents including union health secretary and state public health services’ principal secretary, to seek her husband’s opinion on whether he too wanted to terminate the pregnancy. District General Hospital through its medical officer and Amravati Central Prison superintendent were other respondents in the case. While issuing notices to respondents, HC asked them to reply by August 8.
According to Bhatia, who took pains to draft the petition after she was assigned to the petitioner through legal aid, said the 26-year-old survivor and her husband were convicted by the Akola Sessions Court on May 17 under Section 324 and 302 of IPC. They already have one seven-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son, who was allowed to stay with the mother.
When the trial was underway, she was out on bail and her husband was behind the bars. The incident took place on May 16, just before a day she was convicted. During midnight, her cousin brother-in-law allegedly visited her home and forced himself on her. After finishing the heinous act, he threatened the petitioner of dire consequences. Subsequently, she didn’t reveal anything about it as she was waiting for the verdict in murder trial.
When she was brought for the medical examination after conviction, on May 22, nothing was found. However, after a month or so, she realized that her monthly menstrual cycle was stopped and she complained about it to the medical officer in the jail. When she was diagnosed on July 6, it came to fore that she was one and half months pregnant.
Subsequently, she narrated the whole incident to husband and then lodged a police complaint with the help of jail authorities in Akola. The shocked couple also decided to terminate the pregnancy, as they already had two kids, and accordingly requested the jail superintendent to grant them the permission. They were however informed that they need HC’s consent, being life convicts. She then contacted the legal aid cell through which Bhatia was assigned the task to represent her case.
Accordingly, Bhatia contacted the jail authorities for documents and thereafter drafted the petition. She cited ‘Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971’ stating that its provisions also apply to rape survivors. “She is already a convict and now a rape victim, due to which she is already suffering from the trauma. Moreover, she is also facing financial hardships. Hence, she wouldn’t be able to take care of the third child,” the lawyer told the HC.
