Police should inform victims of option of termination of pregnancy: Karnataka High Court
Bengaluru, Dec 13: While allowing a rape victim to terminate a pregnancy that was in the 24th week, the High Court has directed that all jurisdictional police should inform victims of the option available for termination of pregnancy so that they do not have to approach the courts at a belated stage.
The 17-year-old victim's father had approached the HC seeking for medical termination of her pregnancy. She is subject to a crime under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC and POCSO Act.
As a result of the crime she conceived and is currently 24 weeks pregnant. The petition claimed that the victim does not want to continue with the pregnancy and sought medical termination.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj, who heard the petition in his order on December 11, said such a situation would not have arisen "if at all such a decision had been taken earlier, then there would have been no requirement for the petitioner to approach this Court." .
It, therefore, directed the Principal Secretary, Home Department, to issue necessary directions to all jurisdictional and/ or investigating officers "to make known the availability of an option of medical termination of pregnancy, the procedure and process required to be followed for the same if the victim and/or natural guardian so desire.".
The investigating officer should also keep ready a member or representative of the jurisdictional Child Welfare Committee or the District Child Protection Unit, the court maintained.
The HC had also directed a Medical Board consisting of a gynecologist, pediatrician and psychologist to give an opinion on the fitness of the victim in the present case to undergo medical termination of pregnancy (MTP).
The report was submitted on December 12. The HC then allowed the MTP to be carried out.
The HC ordered that after the MTP, the tissue samples of the foetus should be preserved for the purpose of DNA analysis if required or ordered by the trial court in the POCSO case.
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Police inspector suspended over 'involvement' in honour killing in Andhra's' Palnadu dt
Macherla (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): A police inspector was suspended on Sunday over his alleged involvement in an alleged honour killing of a woman in a village under Macherla in Palnadu district, a senior police official said.
According to police, the woman, identified as Chowdeshwaramma, was in a relationship with Nagaraj, both belonging to the same community, and had eloped earlier.
"A police inspector was suspended following allegations of involvement in an honour killing case, including suspected monetary transactions with the victim's family," the official told PTI.
Police said the couple had approached the police station after eloping, where the woman's parents assured that they would conduct her marriage with Nagaraj, following which she returned home.
However, after a few days, when the family allegedly did not show interest in conducting the marriage, the woman expressed her intention to go back with the man again, he said.
Subsequently, she was found dead, with the family initially claiming that she died by hanging and filing a complaint accordingly.
The postmortem report later revealed that the woman was murdered by strangulation, contradicting the family's claim, police said.
Allegations later surfaced that the inspector had taken money from the woman's father and was involved in handing her back to the family earlier.
Based on these allegations and failure to take proper action in the case, the inspector was placed under suspension, said the official.
The woman's death is reported to have occurred on March 18, police said.
Meanwhile, police have registered a case under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and relevant sections may be altered during the course of investigation, he added.
