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₹20,000 for female foeticide: Panchkula civil hospital gynaecologist, peon booked
According to the inquiry report submitted on Tuesday, Dr Bhargav was questioned on Monday and she confessed that she took ₹8,000 advance for conducting the medical termination of pregnancy
Dr Poonam Bhargav, a gynaecologist at the Panchkula civil hospital who was suspended on Sunday after a video surfaced in which she could be seen striking an alleged deal for aborting a female foetus for ₹20,000, is on the run after a case was registered against her, police said on Wednesday.
A peon, Baljinder, has also been named in the FIR that was registered at the Sector 5 police station late on Tuesday night after the hospital’s internal inquiry committee indicted the two.
In the police complaint, Dr Sneh Singh, deputy civil surgeon, civil hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, stated that after receiving video clippings of the alleged deal from two Patiala men — Amandeep Singh and Vinay Arora — on February 20, the civil surgeon had constituted a committee of six doctors to inquire into the matter.
“As per the preliminary report, Dr Bhargav was showing her intentions to perform medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) of a four-month pregnant woman at her home for ₹20,000, despite being told that the woman already has two daughters and has come after test. The report further shows the involvement of Baljinder, peon, in the matter (sic),” reads the FIR.
The team had also raided Bhargav’s house in Sector 16, Panchkula, and seized various kinds of allopathic medicines in the form of injectables, mostly used for conducting abortion. The allopathic medicines were reportedly without requisite drugs licence and purchase bills. The doctor’s OPD cabin was also sealed and the inquiry team went through documents in her cabin and locker at the hospital. Haryana health minister Anil Vij had ordered her suspension on Sunday.
According to the inquiry report submitted on Tuesday, Dr Bhargav was questioned on Monday and she confessed that she took ₹8,000 advance for conducting the MTP. The amount reportedly has been handed over to the inquiry committee.
The hospital authorities have submitted the inquiry report as well as a DVD containing the video clippings of alleged deal and closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage submitted by the committee to police.
“Keeping in view the recovery of medicines and the video clipping as well as the handing over of ₹8,000 by Dr Poonam Bhargav, it is clear that she was indulging in performing illegal MTP surgery at her residence in connivance with her peon/office staff for monetary gains,” the report states.
Sub-inspector Brij Pal, in-charge of the Sector 7 police post and the investigating official in the case, said the doctor is absconding.
“The Sector 5 station house officer had raided her house in the morning, but she was missing. We are keeping a vigil to arrest her,” he said. Sources said Bhargav’s husband, who is also a doctor, was present at home when the raid was conducted.
Pal said the case was registered on the basis of complaint from the hospital authorities. “We are going through documents and the hospital’s inquiry report as part of the investigation,” he said.
The case has been registered under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 166 (public servant disobeying law, with intent to cause injury to any person), 168 (public servant unlawfully engaging in trade), 315 (act done with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
