Gurgaon: Delhi resident sentenced for marketing sex determination kits
A Delhi resident was on Wednesday sentenced to one year imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000 by Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Gurgaon, Varsha Jain after being convicted under Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act for marketing sex determination kits.
A Delhi resident was on Wednesday sentenced to one year imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000 by Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Gurgaon, Varsha Jain after being convicted under Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act for marketing sex determination kits.
The convict, Sanjay Khatana, was accused of luring couples desirous of a male child by offering a “baby gender choose” kit. Khatana was accused of enticing couples wanting a male offspring by advertising the baby gender kit through a website and sold the kit for Rs 6,000 each. Khatana ran an office on Bristol Lawrence road in Delhi.
In 2014, a decoy customer Gunjan Malhotra along with Gurgaon deputy civil surgeon Dr Saryu Sharma called the accused to Khandsa road in Gurgaon for delivering two kits for conceiving a baby boy. Dr Sharma posed as a private medical practitioner and told Khatana that her customer Gunjan Malhotra who has three daughters wanted a male child. A sum of Rs 12,000 having marked currency notes was exchanged.
The accused described the procedure of taking medicine and claimed that he had given these kits to about 60-70 couples in Punjab and Haryana. He said that the success rate of medicine is almost 100 %.
Regarding the procedure, Khatana he said that ‘X’ chromosome moves faster than the ‘Y’ chromosome which is responsible for conceiving a male baby. But in alkaline pH, ‘X’ becomes docile. So from the day of ovulation, which is determined by the kit, the pH of the female is maintained alkaline for conception of a male child with the help of diet plan and tablets provided in the kits. The kits seized from the accused contained a BGC boy guide in which the procedure for conceiving a male baby is described. It also contained food supplement and strips for checking ovulation.
A three-member team nabbed the accused red handed. An FIR was registered under Section 6A, 3A, 22(1), 22(2), 22(3) and 23 of PC- PNDT Act in city police station Gurgaon after Khatana’s arrest.
The spokesperson said the follow up investigation revealed that the online drug kit contained Lady-Q (mini microscope), digital thermometer, Indikrom papers, I-sure (ovulation strips), ovulation LH test strips, Pregnancy HCG test, LH Strips, BBT Tablets along with the booklet BGC boy guide. The team was stunned to see these items and the false claims published in these booklets regarding assured conception of baby boy, which amounts to contravention of the Act.
The spokesperson claimed this was the first case under the provisions of PC-PNDT Act filed and decided in the country. The case was registered in September 2014 and the trial was conducted in an expeditious manner.