Srinagar, Sept. 23, KDC: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has permitted the medical termination of an advanced 24-week pregnancy of an 11-year-old girl who was subjected to sexual assault by an unidentified perpetrator in North Kashmir.
Delivering the verdict, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal held that an 11-year-old child cannot be compelled to carry to term a pregnancy resulting from sexual violence, ruling that procedural statutory thresholds under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act cannot override the fundamental right to life, dignity, and bodily integrity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The court also took serious note of the fact that the perpetrator remains untraced, issuing explicit directions to medical authorities to preserve foetal tissue for DNA profiling to assist the ongoing police investigation in apprehending the culprit.
The petitioner, a nomadic minor girl, had temporarily shifted with her cattle-rearing family to a rural belt in North Kashmir earlier this spring. During her stay, the child developed persistent fever, cough, and severe abdominal distress. Upon being taken to a local health centre, clinical and radiological investigations revealed that she was pregnant
Upon clinical questioning, the minor disclosed that an unknown individual had forcibly subjected her to sexual intercourse, an ordeal she had withheld from her family out of shock and fear. The matter was reported to the police, who placed the child in protective custody at a shelter home. The perpetrator, however, could not be traced or apprehended.
Approaching the High Court through her father, the minor sought urgent directions for medical termination, contending that continuation of the pregnancy posed grave hazards to her life, mental stability, and physical well-being.
On September 8, the High Court directed the formation of a multidisciplinary Medical Board comprising specialists in gynaecology, radiology, psychiatry, pediatrics, anaesthesia, and forensic medicine at a premier government healthcare facility in North Kashmir.
The Board examined the child on September 11, finding her gestational age to be approximately 22 weeks and five days, and declared her physically and mentally fit to undergo the procedure under specialist supervision, despite acknowledging procedural risks.
By the time the matter came up for final pronouncement on September 22, the pregnancy had advanced to 24 weeks and two days, crossing the statutory 24-week ceiling prescribed for minors and rape survivors under Rule 3-B of the MTP Rules, 2003.
Refusing to allow the statutory lapse to defeat the constitutional protection available to the child, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal observed,”The mere fact that the pregnancy has crossed twenty-four weeks by the date of pronouncement cannot, in the peculiar facts of the present case, be considered in isolation or result in the denial of constitutional protection to the minor petitioner. The pregnancy is the consequence of sexual assault upon an 11-year-old child, and the Medical Board has specifically opined, upon comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment, that termination is medically feasible. The delay in the present case is not attributable to any deliberate inaction on the part of the petitioner, but arises in the course of obtaining the medical opinion and judicial consideration of the relief sought.”
Invoking the Supreme Court ruling in S v. Union of India (April 2026), which affirmed that the absence of a statutory remedy does not bar constitutional relief under Article 226, the Bench said, “The victim, being a minor child aged about 11 years, cannot be compelled to carry to term a pregnancy resulting from the sexual assault committed upon her… The victim’s tender age, her vulnerability, the circumstances in which the pregnancy has arisen, her physical and mental condition and the medical opinion furnished by the duly constituted Medical Board are all relevant circumstances which this Court cannot lose sight of while considering the prayer for termination.”
Allowing the petition, the High Court issued comprehensive operational and welfare directives, instructing the administration of the designated government healthcare facility in North Kashmir to make immediate arrangements for carrying out the termination procedure under full specialist supervision at the earliest possible opportunity.
Justice Nargal directed that the child be permitted to have her mother or lawful guardian present during the procedure, while ordering that continuous psychological counselling and emotional support be extended to her both before and after the clinical intervention.
Taking into account that the assailant remains at large, the bench ordered the medical team to meticulously preserve the foetal tissue in strict accordance with forensic protocols. The court directed that the material be collected, identified, sealed, and forwarded to the competent forensic science laboratory for DNA profiling, ensuring that critical scientific evidence is secured to assist the investigating agency in apprehending the perpetrator.
The High Court further mandated that all expenses connected with the medical termination, including pre-operative treatment, specialized hospital care, post-procedure management, and any necessary inter-hospital transportation, shall be borne entirely by the Union Territory administration.
Emphasizing the paramount need to protect the child, the bench ordered authorities to strictly safeguard her privacy, directing that her identity, personal background, and medical records remain confidential and shielded from any unauthorized disclosure.
Advocates Shabir Ahmad Najar and Sajad Ahmad Shah appeared for the petitioner, while Government Advocate Faheem Nisar Shah appeared on behalf of the administration. (KDC)
