A routine inspection of vehicles by Byapanahalli Police in Bengaluru has blown the lid off a major female foeticide ring in Mandya. The police had stopped a suspiciously moving car in the area on October 15 and a pregnant woman in the passenger seat confessed that she was returning from a sex determination test.
The police launched a probe and weeks of investigation led them to the female foeticide ring which, they believe, has carried out a staggering 242 female foeticides in the last three months and more than 900 illegal sex determination tests in the last three years. The police have arrested nine people, including two doctors. Another accused is absconding.
Jaggery Production Unit Was Their Cover
Bengaluru police allege Dr Chandan Ballal of Matha Hospital in Mysuru is the mastermind of the nexus. He has been arrested along with lab technician Nisar, hospital manager CM Meena and receptionist Rizma. Brokers in Mandya, Mysuru and even Bengaluru would allegedly get information about pregnant women and families looking for sex determination tests and abortion services in case they were carrying a female foetus. The brokers would put the families in touch with receptionist Rizma.
The women were asked to come to Mandya after a deal was finalised. A jaggery processing unit in a farm was converted into a scanning centre with two ultrasound scanning machines. If the foetus was found to be female, those women would be sent to Matha Hospital in Mysuru for abortion, say Bengaluru police officials.
The farm was in an isolated area, which meant villagers did not get suspicious.
“One arrested doctor is a paediatrician and another is an Ayurvedic doctor. They were carrying out scans and abortions at a jaggery production plant and an Ayurvedic hospital. They were charging Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per abortion. We have evidence of 242 female foeticide cases in last three months. We are still probing how many they might have carried out before that,” said B Dayananad, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner.
The police are also probing if the accused had links with other scanning centres to get information about pregnant women. The accused charged Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 for sex determination tests.
A shocked Health Minister called for an urgent meeting and has sought a report about scanning centres in the state and violations found so far. “We are ashamed that this is happening at such a large scale. Female population is not going up indicating that this is happening for a long time. I have sought an action plan to tackle this,” said Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao.
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