Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday ordered a CID probe into the illegal sex-determination-cum-female foeticide racket busted by the Bengaluru police earlier this month.
A statement from the Chief Minister’s Officer (CMO) said that the state government has tasked the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with probing the case and that Siddaramaiah has spoken to Home Minister G Parameshwara by phone about the matter.
The police investigations show two doctors colluded with half a dozen other people to operate a clandestine racket where they carried out the illegal determination of the foeticide and performed abortions if it was a girl. While the sex determination was conducted in the Mandya district, the abortions were carried out at a private hospital in Mysuru.
One of the key suspects, Dr Chandan Ballal, allegedly performed 900 abortions in three years or 20-30 every month.
The Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) has sought a report from the Health and Family Welfare Department on the legal action taken in the case.
In a letter to the department’s principal secretary, the commission’s chairperson noted that the existence of such a racket was a failure of various government bodies set up under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, particularly the District Advisory Committee and the District Inspection and Monitoring Committee. It noted that prima facie, this racket indicated that the PC PNDT act was not implemented properly.
The commission also requested the principal secretary to direct the district inspection and monitoring committee to conduct periodic inspections of hospitals and scanning centres.
Published 30 November 2023, 23:36 IST