Bengaluru doctor booked for performing 74 illegal abortions in 3 years

Bengaluru: Discovering an illegal abortion racket that has been operating in the city for the last three years, the owner of the private hospital in Nelamangala has been booked for allegedly conducting 74 illegal abortions without the necessary authorization.

As of now, the doctor is on the run. The charges have been labelled against the hospital following allegations of performing illegal abortions since 2021 till date without obtaining a license under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in violation of subsection (b) of section 4 of the Medical Abortion Act, 1971.

The racket was uncovered when District Family Welfare Officer Dr S.R. Manjunath visited the hospital for a routine inspection on January 26. The inspection was performed based on the complaints of the locals.

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During the inspection, it was found that the hospital did not obtain a license for the 74 illegal abortion procedures in the last three years. Allegedly, it had not maintained records of the procedures performed, which is a gross violation under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

As per The Hindu news reports, the inspection team also found that the hospital had failed to keep any records of scanning reports or provide any information regarding procedures to the district authority.

Moreover, it also emerged that the hospital recorded the abortion details in the operation theatre register instead of maintaining the record in a proper MTP admission register.

According to an Indian Express news report, the hospital was registered under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (KPME) however, it failed to keep records of the ultrasound reports in 90 per cent of the case sheets. As a result, the health department seized the Operation Theatre register as part of the ongoing investigation.

In light of these grave findings, the DHO approached the police for the registration of the case on February 20 and also submitted a detailed report to the Health and Family Welfare Department for further action.

Acting on the DHO complaint, the police registered a case and booked the owner of the hospital under 312 (causing miscarriage), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent), 315 (act done with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth), and 316 (causing death of quick unborn child by act amounting to culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

An investigation is underway to trace the owner of the hospital and gather more evidence regarding the violations.

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