TN women travel to AP for sex determination, cops arrest doctor

A team of officials from the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services (DMS), Chennai and Delhi, recently conducted a surprise inspection in Andhra Pradesh, after receiving information about women from the state approaching doctors in Chittoor for sex determination and unearthed several such cases. 

Stating that women, mostly from Tiruvannamalai, Salem, Namakkal and Vellore were availing of such facilities in Chittoor, said an official from DMS. “Despite strict enforcement against revelation of sex, women from the state were going to Andhra, where they were not questioned as they belong to a different state.”

This entire process was being managed with help from brokers, he said. “We got a tip-off from residents at Tiruvannamalai who informed us of such activities. We then informed the team in Delhi, who invited us to join in this inter-state inspection,” he added. During inspections, it was found that the brokers led the women to the doctors. “We managed to nab a few brokers who told us they charged the families Rs 1,000 and the doctors charged Rs 4,000 to reveal the sex of the babies. After identifying the sex of the child, the women would return to Tamil Nadu and abort the baby if it was a girl,” he said. 

With help from the brokers, the two teams laid a trap where they approached a clinic, sent the broker in with a lady and managed to nab the doctor, another official said.

Two doctors usually sit at the clinic, Dr Chandrama, a private hospital doctor in the morning, and Dr Shoba, a government hospital doctor, in the evenings. As the raids took place in the morning, the team managed to nab Dr Chandrama. “She has been booked under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act,” the official added.