Single-judge Justice Samir Dave while allowing the application victim’s plea for abortion, invoked the Hindu religious text Durga Saptashati”, also known as “Devi Mahatmya” to highlight the reverence towards women.
The Court said that one of the best ways to understand the spirit of a civilization is to study the history about the position and status of women in it.
The earliest materials found by archaeological excavations dating back to ancient India suggests about the worship of goddesses, the single-judge noted.
“Durga Saptashati” is one of the earliest extant complete manuscripts from the Hindu traditions, which describes reverence and worship of the feminine aspect of God, the Court said.
“The text is believed to be both a culmination of centuries of Indian ideas about the divine feminine as well as a foundation for the literature and spirituality focused on the feminine transcendence in centuries that followed,” the single-judge observed.
The bench referred to a verse in the text and explained the meaning of the said verse in Hindi, as: “अर्थाात हे देवी जगदम्बे, जगत में जितनी भी स्त्रिया हैं वह सब तुम्हारी ही मुर्तिया हैं । इसस्त्रिलए अगर स्त्री चाहे तो वह सब कर सकती हैं जो वह करना चाहती हैं , यह ताकत सर्फ़ उसीमे हैं जो बडे बडे संकटों का नाश कर, श्रेष्ट से श्रेष्ट और कठिनतम कार्य भी पूर्ण कर सकती हैं। जरुरत हैं तो सर्वशक्तिमान नारी को स्वयं को पहचानने को।” (Devi Jagdambe, all the women in the world are your idols. That’s why if a woman wants, she can do whatever she wants, this power is only in those who by destroying the biggest problems, she can complete even the best and most difficult tasks. There is a need, for the all-powerful woman should recognize herself)
Further, the Court said that touching a woman without her permission is the biggest insult to her dignity.
“There is no higher insult to a woman than trying to touch her dignity. In this case, it is very shocking and painful that the victim who is a 11 years and 9 months old girl child, has been subjected to a heinous crime by none else but her own father,“ Justice Dave lamented.
With these observations, the Court permitted the survivor to undergo medical termination of pregnancy.
Source: Barandbench
