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19 aborted foetuses found in Maharashtra’s Sangli, doctor held

The accused doctor holds a Bachelor's degree in Homeopathy and ran the hospital without any licence

As many as 19 female foetuses have been found dumped in a sewer in a village in Sangli district of Maharashtra. The shocking discovery was made on Sunday when Police was probing the case of a pregnant woman’s death during an illegal abortion. The abandoned foetuses were found in blue plastic bags in a ditch alongside the Miraj-Belgaum road in Mhaisal village.

Meanwhile, Police on Monday night arrested the accused Babasaheb Khidrapure, who was absconding after his name cropped up in the case. Khidrapure holds a Bachelor’s degree in Homoeopathy and runs a private clinic at the village where he allegedly ran this racket. Moreover, the private hospital is not registered under the Nursing Home Act, nor are homeopaths allowed to carry out MTP under Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines.

“So far we have found the remains of 19 female foetuses. These foetuses are aborted and buried with an intention of disposing them off,” Sangli Superintendent of Police Dattatray Shinde told PTI.

Shinde said the death of a 26-year-old pregnant woman on February 28 blew the lid off the “racket”. He said the woman was taken to the hospital by her husband Praveen Jamdade a few days back for abortion as she was carrying a girl child for the third time.

“The deceased woman’s father Sunil Jadhav told police that Jamdade had called him and expressed his willingness to abort the female foetus. Despite Jadhav’s objection, Jamdade went ahead with abortion, in which the woman died,” said Shinde.

As the villagers suspected a foul play in the woman’s death, they approached police, following which the racket was busted,” Shinde said, adding the doctor is on the run.

He said the woman was taken to the hospital by her husband Praveen Jamdade a few days back for abortion as she was carrying a girl child for the third time.

Earlier, Police had constituted four-five teams to nab the culprit, while spreading the dragnet to neighbouring Karnataka as well.