India, Sept. 18 -- 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 hea...