Another abortion racket in Tiruvannamalai, quacks held

Months after Tiruvannamalai hit the headlines over the sex determination centre, a joint team of officials from health, revenue and police departments has busted an illegal abortion racket run by a husband-wife duo in Tiruvannamalai on Wednesday.

The couple was arrested and the fancy shop in which they were performing illegal abortions was also sealed. The arrested were identified as Prabhu (45) and wife Kavitha (41), who were running a shop near the Esanya lingam in the town. Prabhu was a BA degree holder and his wife Kavitha has studied only till Class 10. The duo has been booked for prescribing allopathic medicines and for terminating pregnancy without the required qualification.

It is said that the couple performed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) in an enclosure with curtains in a portion of their fancy shop. The shop has been sealed on the orders of Collector KS Kandasamy and CCTV footage were being examined by the police to gather visual evidence.

Speaking to DT Next, Superintendent of Police MR Sibi Chakravarthy said, “Collector Kandasamy, who was informed by the health officials about the racket, passed on the information to me. The issue came to light after a pregnant woman, who went to the PHC at Kadaladi for regular check-ups failed to turn up and when enquired by the PHC staff, the woman was found to be normal without a baby bump. Discreet enquiries revealed that she had undergone an MTP.”

Based on the information, police started tracking the woman’s mobile phone records and found that the phone was switched off on a particular day. Further scrutiny of the woman’s call logs day before the phone was switched off helped the cops narrow down on the quack, who was picked up for questioning. “Though Prabhu initially refused to talk, sustained interrogation revealed that he along with his wife had performed the MTP,” Chakravarthy added.

A special team, headed by Chakravathy, is currently trying to track down those involved in the illegal business, including brokers. “Prabhu’s clients mainly included women who became pregnant due to illegal affairs,” Chakravarthy added.

It may be recalled that only seven months back a female quack Anandhi (51), who handled nearly 15,000 abortions in 19 years in the town, was arrested and the clinic was sealed.