New Delhi, Oct. 20 -- The Delhi High Court has permitted a 16-year-old sexual assault survivor to terminate her 31-week pregnancy, observing that it would be inappropriate to expect a minor to bear the burden of giving birth and raising a child while she was still in adolescence.

A bench of justice Mini Pushkarna, in an October 15 verdict, held that the termination of pregnancy in cases where a minor is a rape survivor cannot be viewed merely as a right of a sexually assaulted woman, but must also be recognised as a human right, as denying such permission can adversely affect the victim's dignity and dignified existence.

"The termination of pregnancy where a minor is a victim of rape, cannot be reduced merely to be defined as right of a...