A prenatal sex determination and female foeticide racket spanning from Bengaluru to Chennai has been busted by the Baiyappanahalli police in Bengaluru. The police found that a group of people were running a gender detection centre in a sugarcane field in Mandya and had links with doctors in Chennai, Mysuru and Bengaluru.
The police arrested Dr Tulasiram from Chennai, who allegedly directed women seeking abortions to the absconding Dr Chandan Ballal, the owner of Matha Hospital in Udayagiri, Mysuru. Three years ago, Dr Tulasiram sold Matha Hospital to Dr Ballal and his wife Meena CM. The doctors coordinated through Ballal's receptionist, Rizma Khanum and Dr Ballal conducted the procedures at his hospital and an Ayurveda clinic in Mysuru. According to the police, these doctors facilitated the abortions of hundreds of women over the last three years. Meena and Rizma have also been arrested, while Chandan Ballal is absconding.
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The racket came to light after a routine vehicle check conducted by Baiyappanahalli police on October 15 on Old Madras Road. A car ignored signals by the police to slow down and sped past the checkpoint. The police then chased and intercepted the vehicle near the NGEF signal. When the vehicle was stopped, police found two men and a pregnant woman travelling in the car. Upon interrogation, the men admitted that they were ferrying the woman to detect the gender of the foetus. The accused were running a gender detection centre in a sugarcane field in Mandya, equipped with scanning machines.
The police had earlier arrested Mysuru resident Shivalingegowda, Nayan Kumar from Mandya, Naveen Kumar from Pandavapura in Mandya and TM Veeresh, a native of Davanagere district. Veeresh, identified as the prime accused, conducted ultrasonography to determine the gender of the foetus and informed the couples or their family members. Police said that Dr Tulasiram knew Shivalingegowda when he was working in Mysuru, and the racket began at that time.
Deputy Commissioner of Police East, D Devaraja, told TNM that the gang had been operating for the past three years and charged approximately Rs 20,000 for each detection. “They relied on word of mouth to get customers and then ferried them to the detection centre to detect the gender of the foetus. If the foetus was a female, they would connect them with hospitals and doctors who would perform the abortion,” he said.
The police are looking into the potential involvement of Shivalinge Gowda’s wife, Sunanda. She is suspected of approaching pregnant women and informing them about the illegal sex determination facility. Her reach reportedly extended to women in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Davanagere, Mandya, and other parts of the state through friends and relatives.
All of the accused face charges under the Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, including sections 511 (attempts to commit offences punishable with any imprisonment) and 312 (voluntarily causing a woman with child to miscarry).