Termination of 26-week pregnancy: We can't kill a child, says SC
New Delhi (PTI): "We cannot kill a child," the Supreme Court observed on Thursday while hearing the Centre's plea seeking recall of its order allowing a married woman, a mother of two, to terminate her 26-week pregnancy.
While making it clear that the top court has to balance the rights of the unborn child, a "living and viable foetus", with its mother's right of decisional autonomy, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud asked the Centre and her lawyer to talk to the woman about the possibility of retaining the pregnancy for a few weeks more.
"Do you want us to tell the doctors at AIIMS to stop the fetal heart?" the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked the counsel appearing for the 27-year-old woman.
When the counsel responded with a "no", the bench said when the woman has waited for over 24 weeks, can't she retain the foetus for some more weeks so there is the possibility of a healthy child being born.
The bench has posted the matter for resumed hearing at 10.30 AM on Friday.
The matter came up before the CJI-led bench after a two-judge bench on Wednesday gave a split verdict on the Centre's plea for recall of its October 9 order granting permission to the woman to terminate her 26-week pregnancy.
The apex court had on October 9 allowed the woman to proceed with medical termination of pregnancy after taking note that she was suffering from depression and was not in a position to raise a third child "emotionally, financially and mentally".
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Mother arrested for killing five-month-old child in Tripura
Agartala (PTI): Tripura Police has arrested a woman for allegedly killing her five-month-old child in Sepahijala district, officials said on Monday.
Initial investigation revealed that Suchitra Debbarma (28) killed her infant to pave the way for her plan to elope with a man she had been in a relationship with for a year.
After receiving information from Suchitra's neighbours, a police team headed by officer-in-charge of Sonamura police station Tapas Das went to their house at Rampadapara on Sunday.
"We found the baby lying on a bed while her mother was missing. We took the child to Sonamura sub-divisional hospital, where doctors declared the baby dead. Post-mortem will be conducted soon," he said.
According to Das, Suchitra was later arrested from the village.
"Prima facie, it appeared that Suchitra strangled her child to death when her husband, Amit Debbarma, went out for work at a rubber plantation. During interrogation, she admitted that she wanted to kill the baby and elope with another man with whom she had an extramarital affair," he said.
