Mumbai: The baby born to a 13-year-old rape survivor in Mumbai on Friday died at a hospital in the city on Sunday. The teenager and her family went ahead with the delivery after the Supreme Court gave them a go-ahead to terminate the pregnancy. Doctors said, at 31 weeks, it was too late to abort.
Doctors at JJ Hospital said the baby was kept in the incubator and was doing fine after the Caesarean-section delivery. But soon, the newborn developed complications and died on Sunday.Laws in India do not allow medical terminations after 20 weeks unless there is a threat to the mother's or baby's life.
The 13-year-old's family discovered she was 27 weeks pregnant only last month. Her mother then moved the top court for permission to abort her daughter's pregnancy. A man who used to help her father run his roadside stall has been arrested on charges of raping her.
Noted gynecologist Dr Nikhil Datar was assisting the family with their petition. Last week, a bench of three judges led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra allowed the girl undergo abortion. Her lawyers called the order a "big relief". "How can a 13-year-old become a mother?" Justice Misra had observed before passing the order.
The teenager will remain in the hospital for a few days until she recovers. Doctors, however, say the pregnancy and child-birth at such an early age are going to affect her psychologically and that she needs counselling and support.
A 10-year-old rape survivor in Chandigarh gave birth to a baby girl last month after she was not allowed by the Supreme Court to abort. Another 10-year-old rape survivor in Haryana, however, was allowed to abort her nearly 21-week foetus in May.
Source: NDTV
When you google for
Child rape victims in India, there is a whole list of them to go thru and many
suffering the same situation quoted in above news (ref: NDTV).
Poor little children who hardly can understand the meaning of rape and
sometimes could not even elaborate the situation to their parents have been
suffering from this cruel crime. I totally understand the situation that
government is trying, law is being enforced but still these kinds of crimes are
happening every now and then. We do not take this situation seriously ever
until and unless someone from our dear ones are victim of this crime.
A friend of mine once
told me that she was the product of her mother’s rape. Staring at her
reflection in the mirror, she wondered aloud, “Which are the rapist’s parts?”
Although rape is profoundly traumatic, relatively little has been said about the lives of children born from it.
After birth, the children’s lives don’t get any easier. Researchers Elisa van Ee and Rolf J. Kleber identified the post-partum period as a significant mental health risk for children born of rape.
Looking over the news
quoted above, I deeply feel the pain and grief of the parents of those little
victims. Not only the child has faced the sexual assault but is also going to
keep facing the trauma there after. This is really a sad situation that parents
have to keep fighting with the laws in those cases for going thru the abortion.
Its seriously not that I am anyway against the laws of our country, but
Abortion Laws and Laws of Abortion after rape should be way different and
specially when the case is of an underage victim. The victim has a whole life
of herself which is already in danger with the mental and physical trauma,
where law must not in any situation force victim to make that child be born.
Doctor’s should have the right to decide if situation permits, the child could
be aborted in case of Underage Rape Victim. My personal request to all my
readers, please sign this petition and tell our government to please think
about this serious issue on a humanly ground and enforce a particular law for
the same.
Sign The Petition Here:
Under
Age Rape Victim Needs Sensible Law
