Surat courts orders termination of pregnancy of teacher accused of kidnapping 13-year-old
A special POCSO court in Surat on Tuesday granted the permission to terminate a 22-week-old pregnancy of a 23-year-old female teacher days after police arrested her and rescued her 13-year-old student after intercepting them in a bus at Shamlaji on Gujarat-Rajasthan border.
The teacher has been charged under BNS Act Sections 137(2) (Kidnapping), 127(3) (Punishment for wrongful confinement). The medical termination of pregnancy of the accused woman will be done at SMC-run SMIMER hospital in a week, and the foetus should be preserved for a DNA test, the order stated.
The woman had on Friday moved the special POCSO court, seeking permission for abortion under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. Based on the application, the court instructed Punagam police to seek expert advice from the medical fraternity.
Police took her to SMIMER hospital for a medical examination, after which the hospital authorities submitted a report to police, stating that 'the termination of pregnancy is advised considering the risk factor'. Police submitted the report to the court on Tuesday.
The report, signed by professor Dr Archish Desai, Assistant professor Dr Sonam Parikh and Senior Resident Dr Thumar, stated, 'As the accused is unmarried and 23 years old, continuation of pregnancy may be harmful for her psychologically and socially. According to the MTP Act, Medical Termination of Pregnancy can be done up to 24 weeks of gestation, and the accused wants termination of pregnancy at present. The risk of complications of Second Trimester Medical Termination of Pregnancy includes incomplete abortion, retained products of conception, bleeding, infection, uterine rupture, failure of termination of pregnancy and may need surgical intervention (hysterotomy) and psychological complications. The mortality (death) risk is 0.6/100000. Considering the risk-benefit ratio, termination of pregnancy is advised from our side with an explanation of the risks. Kindly permit Termination of Pregnancy.'
The teacher and the student had gone missing on April 25 and were last seen in the CCTV footage at Surat Railway Station.
Police sources said the teacher had been offering tuition to the student for the last few years. On April 26, the boy's father had lodged a complaint of kidnapping against the teacher following which police had started a probe in the matter.
Later, police received information that the teacher and the student were returning to Gujarat in a private luxury bus from Jaipur, Rajasthan. A team of Surat police intercepted the bus and brought the teacher and the boy back to the city.
After primary interrogation, police said they learnt that the woman had allegedly confessed to establishing physical relations with the boy following which POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act's Sections 8, 4 and 12 were added in the existing kidnapping complaint against the teacher.
After the police remand, the accused teacher was sent to judicial custody at Surat Central Jail.
The court order on Monday also stated: 'The accused girl should be discharged from the hospital after termination of pregnancy only, if she is found to be medically fit. The Medical Superintendent of SMIMER Hospital, Surat should submit report with regards to the termination of pregnancy to this court within a week. The Investigating Officer should take custody of the accused and send her to Jail after she is discharged from the hospital.'
The court also observed, 'The continuance of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or of grave injury on physical and mental health, or there is a substantial risk that if the child were born, it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities…'
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