— PTI
He performed abortions well beyond five months into pregnancy
A doctor in Maharashtra has been arrested for allegedly carrying out three illegal abortions, the police said on Sunday.
Shivaji Sanap, who runs a private maternity clinic on Jalna Road in the city, has been booked under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code; the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act; and the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act for performing abortions well beyond five months into pregnancy.
Two female foetuses were found dumped in the dry basin of Bindusara river in the city on Saturday, Superintendent of Police Dattatray Mandlik told journalists on Sunday.
Stating that abortions in these cases had been carried out at Dr. Sanap’s clinic, Mr. Mandlik said one was an unmarried girl from Pune and the other a married woman from Georai tehsil of Beed district.
According to the post-mortem report, one foetus was eight months and six days old, while the other was five months and eight days old.
While the girl and the woman have not been arrested as they are being treated at a hospital, Mr. Mandlik said the girl’s father and the woman’s husband have been held.
On Saturday, the police detained two women who worked at Dr. Sanap’s hospital for allegedly dumping the foetuses in the river.
In addition to these illegal abortions, investigations revealed another case in which a six-month-old foetus of a 17-year-old unmarried girl was aborted at the same hospital, the police said.
A case has been registered against the teenager, her father, mother and Dr. Sanap, said Police Inspector Sanjay Lohkare.
This aborted female foetus was taken to Kakad-Hira village of Patoda tehsil in the district by the girl’s parents. The police recovered it covered in a cloth from their house.
Meanwhile, Aurangabad divisional commissioner Bhaskar Munde on Sunday said that from now on hospitals in Beed city and Ambajogai and Parli tehsils will be inspected regularly to curb illegal abortions.
As in the rural areas, Auxiliary Nurse Midwifes (ANMs) will be appointed to keep a record of pregnancies in every ward of Beed city, he said.
A midwife will check on pregnant women in her ward every two months.
Two female foetuses were found dumped in the dry basin of a river in the city
A six-month-old foetus of a 17-year-old unmarried girl was also aborted at his hospital