Allahabad High Court orders compensation for loss of unborn child

The Allahabad High Court has ordered the Railways to pay ₹8 lakh in separate compensation for the loss of an unborn child following a fatal railway accident. The ruling establishes that a foetus in the womb of more than five months is to be treated as a child in existence for compensation purposes.

The case involved Savitri Devi, who died after falling while deboarding the Jan Sadharan Express in 2017. While the Railway Claims Tribunal had previously rejected claims for the unborn child on the grounds that a foetus is not a bona fide passenger under the Railways Act, the High Court overturned this, noting the death of a seven-month-old foetus constitutes an independent loss from the death of the mother.