Customary phrases used for greetings, ‘Sita Ram ji’ or ‘Ram Ram ji’, are popular code words used in illegal scanning centres conducting sex determination tests. If the foetus is male, parents are greeted with ‘Ram Ram ji’, else ‘Sita Ram ji’ is said aloud to indicate that the foetus is a girl, who more often than not gets “killed in the womb”, reveals an investigation officer who has been part of several operations designed to bust sex determination rackets.
The sex determination racket busted this week that involved three persons, including two women, arrested for running an illegal scanning centre in a residential building at Mangli Nichhi, is not the only one of its kind. According to the data shared by the civil surgeon office, Ludhiana, in the last five years (from 2018) seven portable ultrasound machines and five laptops that were used to conduct illegal ultrasound scans have been confiscated through raids conducted by the Haryana and Ludhiana teams.
All of the seven ultrasound machines were confiscated in Ludhiana periphery, one in 2018, one in in 2020, two in 2021, two in 2022, and the latest one on April 24, 2023, indicating towards female foeticide going on in the district.
According to the data from the National Crime Records Bureau, 2020, Ludhiana was the only city where unauthorised scanning centres, where pre-natal gender determination tests are carried out, were caught operating. Among the 34 cities surveyed that year across the country, only Ludhiana had registered four cases under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act, which has been enacted to stop foeticide.
{{/usCountry}}According to the data from the National Crime Records Bureau, 2020, Ludhiana was the only city where unauthorised scanning centres, where pre-natal gender determination tests are carried out, were caught operating. Among the 34 cities surveyed that year across the country, only Ludhiana had registered four cases under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act, which has been enacted to stop foeticide.
{{/usCountry}}“We have initiated aggressive crackdown on illegal ultrasound centres conducting pre-natal sex determination. We are being tipped- off not only from Ludhiana but from also from neighbouring district and our team is closely monitoring all the leads and shall bust more such rackets in coming days,” said Rajinder Singh, deputy media officer at the civil surgeon office, Ludhiana. These persons charge ₹30,000 to ₹50,000 per sex determination test. Several of them are not professional medical advisors and often end up giving vague reports.
Dr Ritu Bala, owner of a private nursing home, said, “It is startling to see that not only people from illiterate or weak socio-economic background but also many highly educated people are still in the clutches of this conservative thinking. Over 70% of women, especially who have conceived for the second time after a daughter, are under societal pressure to produce a male child as if she is responsible for the gender of the child.”
She said besides strict laws only mass awareness through educational institutes, and entertainment sources can help prevent such crimes.
Past cases
Manmohan Pal Sarma of Janakpuri, Mandeep Kaur of Nichhi Mangli village, and Ritu of Sahnewal, were arrested on April 24 this year for running a sex determination racket using a portable ultrasound machine.
In September 2022, Karan Malre was arrested for running a sex determination centre at Karnail Singh Nagar in Ludhiana. During the preliminary investigation, he confessed to having carried out ultrasound scans of 20-25 women and revealing the gender of their foetus.
In May 2022, an ayurvedic doctor was nabbed for conducting sex determination tests.
In March 2021, a doctor and two others were booked for their alleged role in conducting a sex-determination test.
In March 2021, a raid was conducted at Ratan Hospital to expose sex determination racket. The accused were identified as Dr Amarjit Singh, owner of Ratan Hospital, Ludhiana, and two touts.
A sex determination centre being run at Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar, Mundian Kalan, was busted and a doctor and a woman agent was arrested in March 2020.