HORROR Unscrupulous medicos make a quick buck by convincing
couples seeking ultrasound test to abort ‘female’ foetus
If they tell women they are carrying a boy, they get money only for
ultrasound, but if they tell them that it’s a girl and manage to convince
the family to get it aborted, they rake it in RAGHUVEER SINGH, Rajasthan’s
nodal officer of PC-PNDT
Ingenuity is often the hallmark of cheats. In Rajasthan, unscrupulous
medical practitioners, looking to make a quick buck, have gone a step further
by duping pregnant women to undergo abortions after telling them that they are
carrying a girl child despite the foetus being a male.
THINKSTOCK PHOTO FOR REPRESENTATION
“It is perhaps the mother of all frauds,” points out Naveen Jain, head of
Rajasthan’s Pre- Conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) bureau
of investigation, and mission director of National Health Mission.
Though sex determination is illegal, the practice is rampant is Rajasthan where a
male child is still preferred over a girl by many would-be parents.
In a state notorious for its skewed child sex ratio — 888 girls for every 1,000
boys as against the nationalaverageof 919,asperthe 2011 census — some make a
quick buck by offering medical termination services in seedy clinics.
But for maximising profit, officials say many doctors and paramedics involved
in the illegal trade are also misleading parents, luring them into abortions by making
them believe the child in the womb is a girl.
Garima Sain (name changed), pregnant with her third child, helped to blow the lid
off the thriving racket in Makrana of Nagaur district recently. Dr Mohammad Niyaz
of Suncity Hospital recommended an abortion costing `60,000 as “her foetus was
that of a girl”.
He did not know that the law was coming for him. Rajasthan’s PC-PNDT cell that
keeps an eye on illegal practices had used Garima as a decoy to investigate Dr Niyaz.
She delivered a healthy baby boy on November 20, but not before the PC-PNDT
cell had arrested Dr Niyaz. This was not the doctor’s first brush with trouble. His
ultrasound machine had been sealed in 2012 on charges of illegal use. Incidentally,
his son, a government doctor, was also arrested on similar charges in Jodhpur in October.
Garima also helped the cell crack down on two paramedics at another hospital
who suggested that she abort her pregnancy at a discounted price of `50,000. Like
Dr Niyaz, they too told her the baby in the womb was a girl.
Officials say inducing women to abort under false advice is intended for making a
fast buck. “Telling every woman that she’s carrying a girl is risk-free,” says Raghuveer
Singh, Rajasthan’s nodal officer of PC-PNDT.
“If they tell women they are carrying a boy, they get money only for ultrasound,
but if they tell them that it’s a girl and manage to convince the family to get it aborted,
they rake it in,” he adds.
As against anywhere between `50,000 and `1 lakh for an abortion done secretly,
ultrasound to determine the sex of the foetus costs between `20,000 and `50,000,
say officials associated with investigations.
Vikas Rahad, a social activist of Sikar who helped the PC-PNDT cell nab a retired
army paramedic, says abortions offer the cheats with umpteen possibilities. They
squeeze more money out of their patients by raising the bogey of complications during
the procedure.
Since 2009, the state PC-PNDT cell has carried out 39 decoy operations to nab those
involved in sex determination and illegal abortions. But activists fear the trade is
still thriving in districts such as Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Hanumangarh and Ganganagar.
These districts have poor child sex ratio, say activists, while pointing out that they
share their borders with Haryana, which had the worst child sex ratio in the country
in the 2011 census.
Those involved in the illegal trade mostly use cheap Chinesemade portable ultrasound
machines. Many of them are not trained doctors and cannot decipher the ultrasound.
“Many therefore have no qualms in declaring the foetus as a girl,” says Jain.
Social activist Rajan Choudhary, whose tip-offs have led to several decoy operations,
says, “The doctors have a network of government and private nurses who terminate
pregnancies at home. Doctors who conduct only the ultrasound refer women to them
for abortion. The network works as middlemen for ultrasound clinics.”
Source: Hindustan Times
couples seeking ultrasound test to abort ‘female’ foetus
If they tell women they are carrying a boy, they get money only for
ultrasound, but if they tell them that it’s a girl and manage to convince
the family to get it aborted, they rake it in RAGHUVEER SINGH, Rajasthan’s
nodal officer of PC-PNDT
Ingenuity is often the hallmark of cheats. In Rajasthan, unscrupulous
medical practitioners, looking to make a quick buck, have gone a step further
by duping pregnant women to undergo abortions after telling them that they are
carrying a girl child despite the foetus being a male.
THINKSTOCK PHOTO FOR REPRESENTATION
“It is perhaps the mother of all frauds,” points out Naveen Jain, head of
Rajasthan’s Pre- Conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) bureau
of investigation, and mission director of National Health Mission.
Though sex determination is illegal, the practice is rampant is Rajasthan where a
male child is still preferred over a girl by many would-be parents.
In a state notorious for its skewed child sex ratio — 888 girls for every 1,000
boys as against the nationalaverageof 919,asperthe 2011 census — some make a
quick buck by offering medical termination services in seedy clinics.
But for maximising profit, officials say many doctors and paramedics involved
in the illegal trade are also misleading parents, luring them into abortions by making
them believe the child in the womb is a girl.
Garima Sain (name changed), pregnant with her third child, helped to blow the lid
off the thriving racket in Makrana of Nagaur district recently. Dr Mohammad Niyaz
of Suncity Hospital recommended an abortion costing `60,000 as “her foetus was
that of a girl”.
He did not know that the law was coming for him. Rajasthan’s PC-PNDT cell that
keeps an eye on illegal practices had used Garima as a decoy to investigate Dr Niyaz.
She delivered a healthy baby boy on November 20, but not before the PC-PNDT
cell had arrested Dr Niyaz. This was not the doctor’s first brush with trouble. His
ultrasound machine had been sealed in 2012 on charges of illegal use. Incidentally,
his son, a government doctor, was also arrested on similar charges in Jodhpur in October.
Garima also helped the cell crack down on two paramedics at another hospital
who suggested that she abort her pregnancy at a discounted price of `50,000. Like
Dr Niyaz, they too told her the baby in the womb was a girl.
Officials say inducing women to abort under false advice is intended for making a
fast buck. “Telling every woman that she’s carrying a girl is risk-free,” says Raghuveer
Singh, Rajasthan’s nodal officer of PC-PNDT.
“If they tell women they are carrying a boy, they get money only for ultrasound,
but if they tell them that it’s a girl and manage to convince the family to get it aborted,
they rake it in,” he adds.
As against anywhere between `50,000 and `1 lakh for an abortion done secretly,
ultrasound to determine the sex of the foetus costs between `20,000 and `50,000,
say officials associated with investigations.
Vikas Rahad, a social activist of Sikar who helped the PC-PNDT cell nab a retired
army paramedic, says abortions offer the cheats with umpteen possibilities. They
squeeze more money out of their patients by raising the bogey of complications during
the procedure.
Since 2009, the state PC-PNDT cell has carried out 39 decoy operations to nab those
involved in sex determination and illegal abortions. But activists fear the trade is
still thriving in districts such as Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Hanumangarh and Ganganagar.
These districts have poor child sex ratio, say activists, while pointing out that they
share their borders with Haryana, which had the worst child sex ratio in the country
in the 2011 census.
Those involved in the illegal trade mostly use cheap Chinesemade portable ultrasound
machines. Many of them are not trained doctors and cannot decipher the ultrasound.
“Many therefore have no qualms in declaring the foetus as a girl,” says Jain.
Social activist Rajan Choudhary, whose tip-offs have led to several decoy operations,
says, “The doctors have a network of government and private nurses who terminate
pregnancies at home. Doctors who conduct only the ultrasound refer women to them
for abortion. The network works as middlemen for ultrasound clinics.”
Source: Hindustan Times
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