HYDERABAD: The doors of Sri Gayatri Nursing Home in Saidabad, where female feticide was reported, were sealed and steps were initiated to cancel the registration of hospital. Officials from the Hyderabad District Medical and Health Office who inspected the Nursing Home on Saturday said that the nursing home did not have permission to perform Medical Termination of Pregnancies (MTP).
“They are also supposed to maintain F-Form where two gynaecologists state reasons on why abortion (of pregnancy between 18 to 20 weeks) was taken up. This too was not maintained,” said Dr IA Sarala, in-charge DMHO of Hyderabad.
On Friday, Dr Rachana Singh Thakur, her husband Kiran Kumar and supervisor of the hospital Sarwar Unnisa were arrested by Saidabad police, who said that the three were involved in female feticide incidents. Following the arrests, DMHO officials inspected the premises.
Before offering medical services, a hospital or nursing home has to register under the Andhra Pradesh Allopathic Private Medical Care Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Rules, 2007. Hyderabad district collector Yogita Rana said that steps will be initiated to cancel registration of the nursing home. The action was taken as rules under Pre-Conception, Pre-Natal Diagnostic Act 1994 and Rules 1996, and MTP Act were violated.
More decoy ops in the offing
The decoy operation conducted on Sujatha Scanning Centre was only a start of such operations against sex determination tests or illegal abortions conducted in the city, as police personnel along with officials from health and family welfare department would conduct checks against more diagnostic centres in the city.
In one such operation conducted on Tuesday night, health and police officials found that sex determination tests were conducted at Sujatha Scanning Centre in Yosufguda. In the second case, three persons were arrested from Gayatri Nursing Home for conducting illegal abortions and where female foeticide was reported.
While investigation was going on in the two cases, officials were busy charting plans on how to find if the sex determination tests and illegal abortions, conducted primarily to kill girl child are performed at more diagnostic centres in the city.
On the whole, there are around 1115 diagnostic centres in Hyderabad. Officials told Express that more decoy operations will be conducted and they are on look out for people who will participate in their covert operations. The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme’s implementation guidelines issued in February 2018 state that decoy operations should be conducted to unearth illegal practise of sex selection.