The Thiruvananthapuram POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) Additional District and Sessions Court rejected the bail plea submitted by a doctor charged with prescribing abortion medication for a minor girl.
Premchand, 62, of Thiruvallam, is the second accused in a case in which a 16-year-old girl was purportedly sexually abused by prime accused Vilas Elias Jomon, 23, of Poonthura and later prescribed medicine to abort her pregnancy. The Poonthura police had registered the case in February.
Judge N.P. Shibu rejected the bail application after finding credence in the prosecution case, led by public prosecutor J.K. Ajith Prasad, that accused the doctor of prescribing abortion medication despite being aware of the fact that the survivor is a minor. It added that the ‘criminal act of extremely serious nature’ could have endangered the survivor’s life. The homeopathic doctor has also been accused of flouting norms by prescribing allopathic drugs.