A schoolgirl is raped by a random man who is almost her father’s
age or more. He rapes her over several months and an embryo forms inside her
womb. She is pregnant. Let us call her Gudiya.
Parents don't notice the pregnancy of the cherubic girl who is not
even in her teens. It wouldn't even have crossed in their wildest nightmare
when their little girl turned chubbier and cuter. They just believe that their
Gudiya is growing up.
The
foetus starts moving, with webbed fingers.
Gudiya plays around as usual, in her colourful world. The man is
still exploiting her, threatening her not to reveal it to anyone. The lower
middle-class parents are struggling to build a wonderful world that they didn’t
have, for Gudiya.
Now the
foetus has developed fingerprints.
Little Gudiya doesn’t understand what the man is trying to do; but
he told her that she would be reprimanded by her parents if she told them about
it. She forgets the ‘painful’ moments once he leaves.
The
cartilages of the foetus have now developed into bones.
One morning, Gudiya gets stomach pain. Parents take her to doctor
and the revelation sends their world upside down. Their little one, who had
attained puberty at an early age, is pregnant.
The
girl now plays around with a foetus that has eyebrows and eyelids too.
The devastated parents learn that they need legal consent to abort
the foetus and approach the local court. The case goes on for couple of weeks
before it is referred to the higher court.
The
wrinkled skin of the foetus has started smoothening out.
The higher court discusses the matter for some days and refers it
to the Supreme Court. The parents, with all their energy, fight the case as
their Gudiya is unmindful of her stomach bulging out.
The top court refers the matter to a medical panel. The panel of
expert doctors examines Gudiya and come to a conclusion that it is risky to go
for abortion at this stage.
The
foetus is a baby now. Probably it can see around and snuggle closer to its mom's body
for more warmth.
Social stigma haunts the family. They huddle inside closed doors
and ponder over options like migrating to another city or even killing
themselves, amid sobs and tears. Outside, mediapersons wait for a human
interest story while activists line up to take up the case.
The family could barely manage to make both ends meet. But they
were rich in dreams... of giving Gudiya all the comforts that they never
enjoyed -- educating her and finally seeing her fly high. All have fallen like
a pack of cards.
Gudiya wants to play outside but her health now doesn't permit her
to run around like earlier. Her tummy has grown much more and is restricting
her movement. She remembers doctor saying that she "will have to"
deliver a baby. But how, she doesn't know.
We get to know about such Gudiyas at an alarming frequency - a
minor rape survivor in court seeking abortion of her foetus. We also hear about
infants being buried alive or thrown into canal by a mother who conceived the
baby after she was raped. We also hear about young mothers who abandon their newborns
as they “just didn’t want to see its face” that reminded them of the sexual
assault.
Our courts have taken regressive stand when rape cases were
"settled" by marrying off the survivor to the rapist. In other words,
letting the pervert that he was, rape her any number of times with societal and
legal consent.
Law becomes further regressive when it forces motherhood on a
girl, grand-parenthood on her young parents -- even if they hate the baby,
whose father is their worst enemy in life; the person who gate-crashed into
their world of joy and shattered their dreams.
Gudiya's school may object to her continuing with her studies
there. Other parents may not allow their wards to hang around with a girl who
is "morally corrupt". Can the
court ensure that she leads a normal life without any such hurdles? The answer
would be a disappointing “No”.
The new “unwelcome” entrant to the family would be the worst
sufferer. Will the young mother, probably 10 or 12 years, be capable of
bringing up a child by giving him/her the needed psychological and financial support?
Again, No. The young grandparents who didn’t want the baby to be born will be
burdened.
The fight of a new life – the baby - begins here; to be accepted,
loved and cared for, finally to grow up beyond the scar that he/she has become
for the family. Again, a struggle forced by the law of the land.
Considering the normal route of law is abysmally slow, cases on
pregnancy of a rape survivor, especially if she is a minor, should be
fast-tracked so that no girl suffers due to time loss.
The officials who handle such cases – right from the constable who
take the complaint at police station to the court attendant and the judge –
should be sensitised about the urgency in which the case should reach a logical
end.
There should be amendments in the law to abort the foetus even if
the legally permitted period is crossed, provided the child mother is healthy. It
would help the family move on.
Help her to be a survivor, not a victim.
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