Woman dies in botched abortion, quack on the run

Police said Vanithamani, wife of Selvaraj, a daily wager, had approached Muthulakshmi to abort her foetus as she already had five children.

A few days ago, Muthulakshmi and her son Karthik, who is also studying Ayurveda, visited Vanithamani’s house and administered an injection to her. Muthulakshmi then brought the woman to her house, where she developed complications.

Though the pregnant woman was immediately taken to the Pollachi Government Hospital, she died on the way. Subsequently, both Muthulakshmi and Karthik went underground fearing arrest.

Police inquiries revealed that the quack was arrested once before for a similar offence. She remained low for a while before resuming operations at her Yekovanishi Ayurvedic centre.

Following complaints that a pregnant woman died after being administered with a wrong injection, a ten-member medical team held an inquiry with the family members of the victim on Tuesday.

The Health Department officials then inspected the centre located in Vadachittur near Negamam, which remained locked. They found injections, syringes and tablets, all used only by allopathic practitioners, in its backyard.

The officials, who sealed the centre, also confirmed that Muthulakshmi had suffixed D.A.M.S as her educational qualification on the name board, when in fact there was no such degree.