JABALPUR: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has allowed a 16-year-old rape survivor to give birth to her baby, holding that termination of pregnancy cannot be permitted without her consent.

The girl has since married the accused and the father of her child.

A single bench of Justice Vishal Mishra directed that the state government bear all expenses related to the delivery, which will be conducted at Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal in the presence of an expert medical team.

The order of December 11, a copy of which was made available on Friday, came after a district court wrote to the HC concerning the termination of pregnancy of the minor rape survivor.

The HC then sought a report from a medical board.

According to the medical board's report, the survivor was 16 years and seven months old, and her gestational age was 29 weeks and one day, which fell within the permissible delivery period.