Female foeticide racket busted

MUMBAI: The role of doctors in an alleged female foeticide racket has come to light. Thane civil surgeon Dr PM Chapalgaonkar laid a trap and caught them on Friday.

The surgeon said he received an anonymous call informing him that some doctors were helping pregnant women get rid of girl child.

Chapalgaonkar, with the help of NGO Mahila Krantikarak Sanstha run by Varsha Deshpande, laid a trap at Shyam X-ray and Sonography clinic run by Dinesh Agarwal on Gupte Road in Dombivli.

A pregnant woman was sent to the clinic on Friday. She told Agarwal that she wanted to know the sex of her baby. The test revealed that the woman was carrying a girl child.
She said she wanted an abortion. Then Agarwal contacted surgeon AM Gadgil of Eeshwar hospital at Dombivli (E). Dr Gadgil agreed to abort the child for Rs8000.

Though she was admitted to the hospital, it was not mentioned in the register. In the evening, a team consisting of Chapalgaonkar, Kadam (medical officer from KDMC) and Varsha Deshpande paid a surprise visit to the hospital.

Gadgil said that the woman was brought for abortion and admitted it in writing to the team. “Gadgil does not have the licence to run MTP (Medical Termination of Pregnancy) at the hospital. Neither can the hospital use the sonography machine,’’ said Chapalgaonkar.

Medical authorities said they would file a case against the accused.