Surat teacher who ‘kidnapped 13-year-old student’ aborts pregnancy, undergoes tests to determine paternity

She was booked on April 26 at Punagam police station under sections 137(2) (kidnapping), 127(3) (punishment for wrongful confinement) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the POCSO Act.

The two were found on April 29 in Shamlaji, near the Gujarat-Rajasthan border. The boy is undergoing counselling as he is “in trauma,” sources told The Indian Express.

On Tuesday, Special POCSO Court Judge R R Bhatt granted the application for Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) filed by the unmarried accused.

Following the court order, Punagam police took custody of the accused from jail on Wednesday and brought her to SMIMER Hospital, where she underwent a primary examination. A team from the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department performed the procedure.

Sources at SMIMER said the accused is stable but weak due to heavy blood loss. She will remain in the hospital for a few days until fit to return to jail.

Punagam police inspector V M Desai told The Indian Express, “The fetus had been preserved and samples were taken from it, which have been sent for a DNA test at the Forensic Science Laboratory today. Through a DNA test, we would know who the father is. Once we get the report from FSL, we will submit it to the Special POCSO court in the coming days. The accused teacher will have to stay in the hospital for a few more days as her physical condition is too weak. Once she becomes physically fit, we will leave her at Surat Central Jail. A police team has been deployed at the ward where she is admitted, so that she does not escape.”

Desai further added, “We have also carried out counselling of the victim boy with the psychiatrist for five days, as he was also under mental trauma. Now his condition is reported to be stable.”

An FIR was registered against the teacher on April 26 after she and the boy went missing on April 25 and the boy’s father filed a complaint at Punagam police station.

Following their arrest on April 29, the teacher underwent a medical examination and has since been in judicial custody at Surat Central Jail.

On May 9, defence lawyer Wajid Shaikh applied to the Special POCSO court seeking permission for abortion under Section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.