The Sangli police have arrested homeopath BA Khidrapure after 19 foetuses were found dumped at Mhaisal village near Miraj in Sangli district.
With the illegal female foeticide at Sangli serving as a rude reminder about the existence of the sex determination rackets in Maharashtra, the state government is planning to review the loopholes in the implementation of the laws.
"We are planning to set up a committee of technical experts to go into issues like any loopholes in the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 (PCPNDT), and problems in its implementation," a senior state health department official told DNA.
"The committee will also advise the state government on how these problems can be overcome and the necessary amendments to the act," he added. The committee is likely to include the deans of government medical colleges as members.
The Sangli police have arrested homeopath BA Khidrapure after 19 foetuses were found dumped at Mhaisal village near Miraj in Sangli district. The police were investigating the death of a 26-year old woman following medical termination of pregnancy (MTP). The woman's husband Praveen Patangrao Jamdade, who had taken his wife to the hospital for abortion as she was carrying a girl child for the third time, was under arrest.
"Sex determination and female foeticide take place despite stringent laws. The crux is the attitude of the society towards the girl child. At times, sex determination is conducted in other states and abortions happen in Maharashtra," the official noted.
Health department officials admit that couples from Maharashtra, especially from border districts like Sangli, often choose to go to other states for determination of the gender of their unborn children and to terminate the pregnancy if it is a female foetus.
Cities like Bijapur, Chikodi, Indi, Gulbarga, Belgaum (Karnataka), Surat (Gujarat), Jabalpur, Burhanpur (Madhya Pradesh), Hyderabad, Adilabad and Nizamabad (Telangana) are hubs for such activities.
The state government is also working on a common protocol to allow it to conduct sting operations on medical practitioners and map out sonography and MTP centres where an unusually high number of cases from Maharashtra come in.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Bharti Hospital")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}