Nerul doctor held for aborting minor rape survivor’s 16-week-old foetus

NAVI MUMBAI: A woman gynaecologist from Nerul was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly aborting the 16-week foetus of a minor girl who was raped by a Sanpada youth on the pretext of marriage.
“The girl was 16-weeks pregnant when Ravi Patil brought her to Dr Pallavi Ambhure’s Mauli Health Care Hospital in Nerul. According to the law, when aborting a foetus of more than 12 weeks, the opinion of two doctors is mandatory, but Dr Ambhure aborted the foetus alone allegedly to help the accused,” said inspector Maloji Shinde of the Navi Mumbai crime branch unit I.“Patil admitted the girl to the hospital on June 2, and the abortion was done the next day.”
On August 2, the survivor, who lives in Turbhe Mafco market, approached the APMC police and alleged that Patil had raped her on the pretext of marriage and even caused her miscarriage. The girl told the police that she was 18 years old.
The APMC police arrested Patil on the same day and booked him under IPC sections 376 (rape) and 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent). But after four days, when the police obtained the girl’s school-leaving certificate, they found that she was 15 years old. They then added the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act against Patil.
Patil, who was employed as a supervisor, is currently lodged in Taloja jail.
Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai crime branch unit I, which was conducting a parallel probe in the case, managed to gather enough evidence against Dr Ambhure and arrested her. She was produced before the Thane court on Tuesday, and remanded in police custody till Thursday.