Two doctors among nine persons held for running female foeticide ring in Karnataka

Karnataka Police sources said two doctors ran their 'clinic' at a jaggery production unit in a remote village in Mandya district, which had all the equipment required to carry out their work.

Bengaluru: A major female foeticide ring has been busted in the state, with the arrest of nine people, including two doctors, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda said on Tuesday.

He said that the gang had allegedly carried out 242 foeticides in just three months.

Illegal sex determination tests were carried out on pregnant women and female foetuses were medically terminated, the official said, adding that a paediatrician, whose mother is also a doctor, and an Ayurveda doctor were the key players behind the gang.

They have a hospital at Udayagiri in the district headquarters town of Mysuru, the police commissioner said.

On October 15, during a routine inspection, Byappanahalli police stopped a vehicle which was 'moving suspiciously'. When police questioned the occupants, it came to light that they were part of a gang conducting foeticides.

The gang used to conduct sex determination tests on pregnant women and terminate the foetuses if they were found to be female, Dayananda told reporters.

They ran a big racket. We have arrested nine people so far. Of them, two are doctors, three are lab technicians or compounders in hospitals, two or three brokers or agents, apart from a hospital manager and receptionist. A search is on for the two brokers who are at large,' the police commissioner said.

According to him, the accused are mainly from Mysuru and Mandya districts. The Ayurveda doctor's wife is also an accused.

Police sources said they ran their 'clinic' at a jaggery production unit in a remote village in Mandya district, which had all the equipment required to carry out their work.

It is suspected that, in two years, they had illegally terminated over 900 female foetuses.

They charged Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 for a sex determination test, and an additional Rs 50,000 to terminate the pregnancy if the foetus was female, the police said.

Brokers used to approach pregnant women and ask them whether they wished to determine the sex of the foetus. After getting their approval, the agents would bring the women to the 'abortion facility'.

On Tuesday, Lokayukta officials visited the facility to conduct an inquiry.