VIJAYAWADA: The 23-year-old girl Katta Sridevi, who lodged a complaint against one Karthika Datta IVF Centre at Suryaraopet on August 11 alleging forceful surrogacy, attempted suicide by consuming sleeping pills at her residence in Tadepalli of Guntur district on Monday and was admitted to a hospital.
The victim alleged that the hospital management was forcing her and her family to withdraw the case filed against them and threatened them with dire consequences if they fail to settle the issue at the earliest. At present, she is undergoing treatment at Vijayawada government hospital and Suryaraopet police are conducting an investigation in the case.
On August 11, she filed a complaint against her friend Sandhyarani and Karthika Datta’s IVF doctors Rajendra Prasad and his wife Ramadevi, alleging that she was forced to become a surrogate. “Dr. Kolli Rajendra Prasad and his lawyer B Ashok Kumar sent some persons to my residence and threatened to eliminate me and my parents. Lawyer Kumar said the doctor can escape easily from the case,” the victim alleged.
Based on her complaint, the Suryaraopet police filed a case under Sections 342 and 370 (1) of IPC and called her friend and doctors for interrogation.
Sridevi, a resident of Vejendla mandal of Guntur district, used to work as an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) in Guntur. When Sridevi’s mother fell sick, she approached her friend Sandhyarani, working as a nurse in the hospital in question, and sought help. Sandhyarani apparently told the victim that she (Sridevi) will get `3.5 lakh if she is willing to become a surrogate, and introduced her to Dr. Rama Devi on August 5.
According to Sridevi, after conducting necessary tests, she was given two injections as the first cycle of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). A day after administering the injections, she fell ill and told doctors that she wants to drop the entire idea of surrogacy.
“Least concerned about my health, they kept me in illegal detention in the hospital for two days. One fine day, I managed to escape from the hospital and approached the police and filed a complaint,” the victim said.
Meanwhile, the hospital management, claiming innocence, told TNIE that Sridevi approached the hospital for employment and intentionally was slinging mud for money. “She came to the hospital twice for employment and was given treatment after she fell ill. There is no truth in the allegations levelled against us. Technically, she is unfit for surrogacy since she is unmarried. Against this issue, we approached the court and got a judgment in our favour,” said Dr Rajendra Prasad.
When contacted, Suryaraopet police CI K Satyanarayana told TNIE, “Samples have been collected and sent to the laboratory in Visakhapatnam. We are waiting for the reports.”