Gurgaon: Woman, two accomplices held for illegal sex determination in Kaithal

Officials said the three used to trick people by providing them false information about the sex of the foetus using the machine, which is not used for sex determination tests.

The Gurgaon district administration, along with officials of the health department, on Friday conducted a search at a house in Kaithal district, about 215km from Gurgaon, and arrested a quack and two men on charges of conducting illegal sex determination of foetuses.

The group used to trick people using the Doppler ultrasound machine. The machine is used to estimate the blood flow in blood vessels and it cannot provide details of the sex of a foetus. (HT Photo)

A Doppler ultrasound machine and Rs 30,000 cash were also seized. Officials said the three used to trick people by providing them false information about the sex of the foetus using the machine, which is not used for sex determination tests.

The search was conducted after the health department received a tip-off about illegal sex determination being carried out at the residence of Kiran, who is not a qualified medical practitioner. As per the team, her highest educational qualification is matriculation.

It was found by the team that Kiran used to work as a first-aid staff at a pharmacy and, later, she left her job and bought a Doppler ultrasound machine and started conducting medical examinations of pregnant women in the village over the last six months.

The team was led by Dr Saryu Sharma and Shyam Sunder, secretary, Red Cross.

“The group used to trick people using the Doppler ultrasound machine. The machine is used to estimate the blood flow in blood vessels and it cannot provide details of the sex of a foetus. They were charging Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 from each person. The two men who were nabbed along with Kiran used to scout for clients. They were her agents,” Sunder said.

A case has been registered against the three under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, and Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

On June 26 last year, an FIR was lodged against a Gurgaon man, Qureshi, on charges of illegal abortion of the foetus. Qureshi had failed to produce any certificate show that he was a doctor.

These abortions were considered illegal as they had first identified the sex of the foetus and, on finding it to be a female, had gone in for a termination of pregnancy.

Health department officials had conducted a similar searches at a private clinic in Gurgaon’s Rajiv Nagar, and apprehended two people, Dr Vijay Kumar Sharma and Dr Sonam Sharma, on March 7 last year.

On March 8, Dr Sunita Pawar, a doctor who runs a private health centre in Patel Nagar, was arrested for conducting illegal abortions.