India’s Supreme Court has granted a 13-year-old rape victim in Mumbai permission to terminate her pregnancy.

The girl, who was 32 weeks pregnant, needed the court’s assent Wednesday as Indian law only allows abortions after 20 weeks if the mother’s life is in danger.

The case was heard so late in the girl’s pregnancy because her parents only discovered she was pregnant at 29 weeks, when they took her to the doctor for obesity treatments, having noted that she had gained a lot of weight.

The girl, who has not been named for legal reasons, alleges that she was raped by her father’s colleague, who has been arrested.

The court heard arguments this week from doctors who reported that the girl’s life would be in danger should she have the baby.

Just days earlier, a 10-year-old rape victim gave birth in Chandigarh after doctors said a late-term abortion was “too risky.”

Such cases come to light so late in Indian girls’ pregnancy because they are often unaware of their condition, while parents cannot fathom that children so young could be pregnant.
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