Doctors terminate 15-week pregnancy of 12-year-old rape survivor in Bhopal

Bhopal: A 12-year-old rape survivor rescued from the Bhopal railway station underwent an abortion at a hospital in the city, a senior medical officer said on Monday. The surgery was performed on Sunday, Karan Peepre, in-charge superintendent, Sultania Lady Hospital, said. “A team of doctors terminated the 15-week pregnancy of the rape survivor. She is in good health now and would be under doctors’ observation for three more days,’ Peepre told PTI. The Government Railway Police (GRP) has apprehended six people, three of them minors, for allegedly raping the girl, who was spotted by members of the Railway Childline at the train station on 3 November. [caption id=“attachment_2835436” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. CNN-News18[/caption] The childline service is an initiative that seeks to help minors who have run away from home, are unaccompanied or have been trafficked, and come in contact with the Railways. A medical examination later found that the victim, who fled her home in Jabalpur some months ago and started begging near the railway station, was pregnant. The girl had told the police she was raped repeatedly during her stay in the station premises. Peepre said counsellors were helping the minor deal with the trauma. The decision to terminate the pregnancy was taken by the local child welfare committee, he said. Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police, Bhopal Railway Division, Ruchi Vardhan Mishra, said six people had been taken into custody during the past couple of days in connection with the crime. “The accused included three minors,” she said, adding that the trio, aged 16 to 17 years, was sent to a shelter home. The three adults — Salman (20), Mangal Thakur (24) and Manish Yadav (24) — were placed under arrest and later sent to jail by a court here, the officer said. The SP said the accused had been booked under IPC section 376 (rape) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. “The victim told us she used to stay with her parents in a shanty near the Jabalpur railway station. A few months ago, she sat in a train alone and reached Bhopal. After that, she started begging at the railway station,” Mishra said. During this period, she was allegedly raped by the accused, Mishra said. Madhya Pradesh Minister for Women and Child Development Archana Chitnis visited the hospital last evening and enquired about the girl’s health. The minister, who also met the survivor, had earlier announced that the government would bear all expenses incurred on her treatment and for her education.