Jeypore: The laws meant to check foeticide seem to be serving no purpose with the rising cases of foetus killing in Koraput district.
It is alleged that the administration doesn’t bother to impose the law even as several private nursing homes are involved in illegal termination of pregnancy in this town. Unlawful abortion has become a lucrative business of sorts for some clinics. These clinics have installed ultrasound machines without obtaining permission from the authorities concerned and earn in lakhs, killing unborn children, a report said.
While pre-natal sex determination is banned under the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act, in case of emergency this can be done in government hospitals. However, there are several instances when foetuses as old as six months old are aborted and dumped along roads in the town. Such acts are considered murder under the Indian Penal Code.
For instance, the floating body of a pre-mature baby girl was recovered from river Putural near the town December 3. Police registered a case and started an investigation. Preliminary probe suggested that the baby was thrown into the river.
Similarly, locals spotted a dog feasting on a newborn on the premises of the local sub-divisional hospital. Earlier, a few others had seen the body lying near a nullah adjacent to the labour room of the hospital.
Police also seized the body of another pre-mature baby from the park in front of the municipality office and began a probe. However, people involved in such heinous practices have modified their modus operandi to escape public attention. These days, foetuses are either buried at secluded places or thrown into the river. While unmarried girls are doing this to hide their unwanted pregnancies, some women opt to abort the female foetus, it was learnt.
The administration has failed to enforce the law strictly to check the practice even as it is emerging as a national issue.
Officials often keep mum after conducting raids on some clinics when they receive complaints. This encourages the illegal clinics to continue with the practice, locals said, demanding the administration should launch an awareness drive to check the illegal practice. PNN