After absconding from police, the Ayurvedic doctor who performed an illegal abortion which led to the death of a woman from Pollachi has been arrested in Nagapattinam district. She was brought to Negamam where the case was initially registered, and has now been sent to the Coimbatore Womens’ Central Jail, according to the police. However, the Ayurvedic doctor’s son, who also administrered treatment, is absconding.
On Sunday, Vanithamani a resident of Negamam died after a botched abortion procedure carried out by Muthulakshmi, a 57-year-old Ayurvedic practicioner and her son Karthik, a Siddha practitioner. Vanithamani and her husband had approached Muthulakshmi after she was found to be pregnant with her fifth child and did not want to continue the pregnancy for financial reasons.
Incidentally, a complaint had earlier been lodged against Muthulakshmi in 2017 after a health department official found her distributing allopathic medications. As an ayurvedic practitioner, Muthulakshmi is not allowed to do this. However, since the case remained pending in court, she continued running her clinic.
An FIR has been lodged with the Negamam police against Muthulakshmi and Karthik under Section 314 of the IPC (death caused by act done with intent to cause miscarriage).
Vanithamani’s 19-year-old son had lodged a complaint at the Negamam police station after her death. As per his complaint, Vanithamani and her husband Selvaraj had approached Muthulakshmi seeking her help in ending the pregnancy. Vanithamani was administered an injection by Muthulakshmi and Karthik at the former’s residence. She was later taken to their clinic, where they started treatment. She returned home at around 6pm on Sunday, however, had taken her ill. Her husband rushed her to the Pollachi Government Hospital but she died on the way.
Muthulakshmi was running her clinic along with her son at their residence in Vadachittur. She holds a Diploma in Ayurveda Medical Science while Karthik was trained in Siddha, a system of medicine that focuses on healing by restoring balance to the mind and body and is native to South India.