KOCHI: When the physical and mental trauma of sexual abuse and the resultant pregnancy became too intense for her to bear, a 15-year-old rape survivor moved the Kerala High Court seeking permission to terminate her 24-week-old foetus. Though laws on medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) beyond 24 weeks are stringent in the country, the HC, recognising her suffering, granted the request.
Hers is not an isolated case. There has been a significant rise in the number of sexual assault survivors, all of them minors, who underwent MTP in the state.
As per the information TNIE obtained via RTI, 41 minors underwent MTP in Kerala between 2019 and October 2023, with the number rising almost every year. Moreover, of the 41 survivors, 23 were in advanced stages of pregnancy and gave birth despite undergoing MTP. The babies are currently housed in the government’s care homes.
The RTI reply revealed that the young mothers who insist on taking the baby with them are accommodated in homes managed by the Nirbhaya cell of the Women and Child Development department until both are rehabilitated. The amount spent on them is not specified and is granted as per need. “The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) concerned takes the necessary steps for the protection of children not under the care of Nirbhaya cell,” said the department.
As per the reply, children in CWCs are placed for adoption. As per Section 56 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection Children) Act, 2015 adoption shall be resorted to, to ensure the right to family for the orphan, abandoned, and surrendered children.
Advocate Parvathi Menon, project coordinator of Victim Rights Centre (VRC), Kerala Legal Services Authority (KeLSA), told TNIE that it is concerning that several MTPs were carried out on the request of rape survivors and victims of Pocso offences. “Spreading legal awareness and imparting scientific sex education among students are the only ways to curtail this,” she said.
‘Proposal to treat convicts, accused in Pocso cases, soon’
Parvathi said certain instances of paedophilia are scientifically proven to be a medical condition and hence, recidivism (a convicted criminal’s tendency to reoffend) can be curtailed to a large extent if accused/convicts/under-trial prisoners in Pocso cases are medically treated while in prisons. “The VRC will be soon place a proposal before KeLSA in this regard,” Parvathi said.
The MTP Act of 1971 provides an outer limit of 24 weeks, beyond which termination is not permissible. However, such MTPs are done with the HC’s permission.
While granting nod, the HC makes it clear that if the mother is not willing to assume the child’s responsibility, then the state and its agencies should “assume full responsibility and offer medical support and facilities to the child”, as may be reasonably feasible, keeping in mind the best interests of the child and the provisions in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. MTP is also legally allowed for married women when the mother’s status is in jeopardy or if there is any foetal abnormality.