Karnataka health officials uncover prenatal sex determination racket in inter-state decoy operation

Bengaluru: In a first for the Karnataka health department, a team of officials conducted an interstate decoy operation with the help of their Andhra Pradesh counterparts and unearthed a racket involved in prenatal sex determination. 

After learning that a pregnant woman and her husband from Mandya had visited Guntakal, Andhra Pradesh, to know the sex of the foetus, officials in the health department launched the decoy operation using the same couple. 

A team led by Dr Vivek Dorai, state nodal officer, Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT), conducted the operation in the neighbouring state.

The existence of the racket came to light when Asha workers, who were on a routine check of pregnant women in Malavalli, observed that one of the pregnant women was growing weak. When asked, she told them that she was having a girl child and hence, she stopped taking her medications. 

The woman and her husband further told the Asha workers that they had got a contact from an unnamed person who helped them determine the sex of the foetus. 

The Asha workers passed on this information to higher officials. Subsequently, Dr Dorai planned the decoy operation in coordination with his AP counterpart Dr KVNS Anil Kumar.

As part of the operation, the Mandya couple was asked to contact the racket again. The officials gave the couple Rs 9,000 in cash after marking the serial number of the notes. 

The couple got in touch with the same agent and told her that they wanted to conduct the test once more. The agent took Rs 7,500 from the couple and made arrangements with a medical officer to conduct the sex determination test.

Subsequently, the agent informed the couple that the foetus was of a girl and also revealed that a medical termination of pregnancy could be conducted by one Dr Baby, a registered medical practitioner, in Guntakal itself. The agent also provided the couple a contact number for this purpose. 

Later, the officials checked the cash in the hands of the agent and confirmed that she had the currency with the pre-recorded serial numbers. 

They have handed over all the information to Andhra Pradesh officials to conduct further inquiries.