10-year-old Indian girl raped and impregnated by stepfather to be granted abortion

Indian law does not typically allow terminations after 20 weeks, unless a woman's life is in danger

Sexual violence against women is a highly-charged issue in India, where the horrific, fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi in 2012 sparked nationwide protests about entrenched violence against women and the failure of authorities to protect them (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images)

A 10-year-old Indian girl who was repeatedly raped by her stepfather has been allowed to have an abortion.

The child, from Rohtak, Haryana state, is around five months pregnant and is expected to give birth in another four months.

Indian law does not allow terminations after 20 weeks, unless a woman's life is in danger.

The law was enacted to combat the effects of a cultural preference for sons, which led to millions of female foetuses being aborted over the years.

The girl's stepfather has been arrested and detained pending a full investigation after her mother reported him to police.

The stepfather, who is also her uncle, reportedly raped the girl when her mother left home for work.

A local court told doctors at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) it would accept their recommendation.

The termination will be carried out "anytime now", Dr Ashok Chauhan, medical superintendent at PGIMS, told the BBC.

Earlier, he said the case for termination was "borderline".

"She is around 20 weeks pregnant, but it could be 19 weeks or it could be 21 weeks. The technology is not so advanced that it can tell you exactly what week she's in."

It comes after the brutal gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old Indian woman by men who smashed her skull with bricks.

Her body was found in an open field, where it had been partially eaten by stray dogs.

Sexual violence against women is a highly-charged issue in India, where the horrific, fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi in 2012 sparked nationwide protests about entrenched violence against women and the failure of authorities to protect them.

Indian media also reported a gang-rape in the city of Gurgaon on the outskirts of Delhi over the weekend.

On average, 50 crimes against women are registered every day by police in Delhi, including at least four cases of rape, according to a senior official in the federal home ministry.

Additional reporting by Reuters