Cuttack, Jan 21: In a landmark ruling, the Orissa High Court on Wednesday allowed a rape survivor to terminate her 21-week pregnancy.
Hearing a petition filed by the victim’s parents, a division bench of the Orissa High Court issued order in favour of medical termination of the pregnancy at about the eleventh hour.
Apart from allowing the abortion of the foetus, the High Court bench also accorded permission to conduct the DNA test of the embryo, mentioning that the report will be a vital proof to determine its parentage.
According to the case record, a Rourkela based rape survivor who was a minor girl, had conceived after she was sexually assaulted by the accused. Following a gravity test conducted on November 24, 2025 she was tested positive with carrying a 13-week foetus in her womb.
Worried over the broken health of the survivor and anticipating the hazy identity of the expected offspring, the victim’s parents moved the Orissa High Court and prayed to approve their ward’s medical termination of the developed foetus.
Hearing the case, the Orissa High Court bench ruled that the victim can undergo safe medical termination of her 21-week pregnancy in a healthcare institution.
The Orissa High Court bench also issued directions to the parents and the concerned police to conduct the DNA test of the embryo that can later be produced before the court as a pivotal document to ascertain the identity of parents.
