Delhi HC allows unmarried woman to terminate pregnancy beyond 22 weeks

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has allowed a 30-year-old unmarried woman to terminate her pregnancy beyond 22 weeks, which resulted from a sexual relationship entered into under the false pretext of marriage.

A bench of justice Ravinder Dudeja, in his verdict delivered on Wednesday, observed that forcing her to continue the pregnancy would only deepen her trauma and expose her to social stigma, preventing her from healing the emotional scars caused by the violation.

“The court is of the considered opinion that suffering of the victim cannot be compounded if she is forced to continue the pregnancy. Apart from above, the victim is bound to face social stigma which may not permit the scars left by the defilement of her body to heal,” the court said in the order.

The woman, who was allegedly in a live-in relationship with a man for two years after being promised marriage, became pregnant in November/December last year but was forced to terminate the pregnancy. She conceived again in June 2025, and when she refused to undergo another termination, the accused allegedly assaulted her on May 15 and abandoned her.

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Subsequently, she filed a complaint, and an FIR was lodged under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including charges of rape, voluntarily causing hurt, and criminal intimidation.

In her petition, the woman claimed that the pregnancy was a result of sexual abuse and that continuing it would cause grave injury to her physical and mental health, apart from exposing her to social stigma. She added that although she had approached a hospital for termination, the authorities insisted on court permission, as the pregnancy had crossed 20 weeks and the FIR was pending.

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All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), in its report, said that the woman was fit to undergo termination.

Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, abortions are legally permitted up to 20 weeks. Following a 2021 amendment, certain categories of women—including survivors of sexual assault—may terminate pregnancies up to 24 weeks, with medical board approval. The law also permits courts to allow termination beyond 24 weeks in exceptional cases involving foetal abnormalities or serious risks to the woman’s mental or physical health.