Girl's abortion: No Karnataka HC relief for Chikkamagaluru doctor

BENGALURU: The Karnataka government must ensure strict compliance with Section 19 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012, and reporting of offences, particularly by doctors who indulge in medical termination of pregnancy of minors in extenuating circumstances, the high court has observed in a recent judgement.
Rejecting the petition filed by a Chikkamagaluru-based obstetrician and gynaecologist, Justice M Nagaprasanna has pointed out that the Supreme Court itself has directed for strict compliance of Section 19 of the Pocso Act. tnn
Section 19 makes it mandatory for reporting child-sexual offences to police or the special juvenile police unit.
The 62-year-old doctor had challenged the crime registered by Belthangady police in which he was chargesheeted for allegedly performing abortion on a minor girl.
The doctor had performed the termination of pregnancy procedure on a girl aged 12 years 11 months on December 17, 2022, at his clinic. Police chargesheeted him under section 21 of Pocso Act, the penal clause for failure to report the offence. The petitioner claimed he had 35 years of experience and served as taluk health officer for 20 years in Chikkamagaluru. His defence was that the girl was accompanied by 3-4 people, who had introduced themselves as her parents and husband, and her age was given as 18 years and 3 months. The doctor claimed that she appeared to be over 18 years old. Therefore, he performed the surgery.
The government advocate argued that the doctor, being an experienced practitioner, should have taken note of the fact that the girl was of a tender age and it is for him to come clean in the trial.
Justice Nagaprasanna has noted that reporting of offences under the Act, particularly by doctors, requires strict compliance, failing which the offender committing the offence arising out of consensual sexual activity or a rape or sexual abuse of a child will get away from the clutches of law, which would defeat the very object of promulgation of the Act. The provision is one of those steps towards preventive measures of child abuses, he added. "Therefore, responsibility to report is cast on all stakeholders..." the judge noted.