A HIV-positive rape victim abandoned by her family
delivered a healthy baby girl at a government hospital in Patna on the
weekend after the court refused to grant her permission for abortion,
leaving her in a peculiar situation...
The 35-year-old victim is currently at the mercy of an NGO, which is taking care of her.
“Both mother and her baby are safe and healthy. We are
taking their full care as per the court’s directive. A team of health
experts are keeping a close watch on their situation,” Patna-based
Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences’ (IGIMS) superintendent, Dr
Manish Mandal, said.
The hapless woman gave birth to the baby on Friday against
her wishes but is now forced to take care of her baby as she has no
option. The doctors had to operate on her for safe delivery.
The woman, a resident of Patna, had been residing on the
streets of the state capital, surviving on meager alms given by
passers-by, when she became pregnant after being raped. She was
abandoned by her husband some 12 years back after a family dispute.
A local NGO came to know about her condition and took her
to its rehabilitation center. During her health check-up, she was found
to be both pregnant and having contracted HIV positive. She was rescued
on January 25 this year.
The NGO’s officials took her to the state-run Patna
Medical College Hospital (PMCH) after she said she doesn’t want to
deliver the baby. However, the doctors refused to abort the fetus
saying it could be risky for her life as she was already 20 weeks’
pregnant.
Subsequently, the NGO sought the intervention of the Patna
High Court in the matter. Taking the matter seriously, the court asked
the IGIMS authorities to constitute a medical board and give a report
soon. Based on the medical report which said abortion could be risky
given her advanced stage of pregnancy, the court refused to grant her
permission for abortion.
The NGO then moved the Supreme Court, taking up her case
and the top court also refused to grant the permission acting on advice
by the medical board of the Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) which suggested it would be risky for both the woman
and the baby as she was 26 weeks’ pregnant then. The order came on May
10 this year.The bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A.M. Khanwilkar, however, directed
the state government to provide all medical facilities at Patna’s IGIMS
as per the treatment chart which would be given to her by the doctors
of AIIMS in Delhi. Finally, she gave birth to her baby on Friday.
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