PERAMBALUR: Health department officials in Dharmapuri on Thursday busted a gang in Perambalur that was allegedly involved in performing illegal sex determination tests (SDTs) on pregnant women. A quack was arrested in connection with the incident.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of officials led by the joint director of the health department in Dharmapuri on Thursday trailed a vehicle that allegedly had the gang taking patients to undergo SDT. The vehicle stopped in front of a private pharmacy in Sengunam of Perambalur district. Inquiries revealed that
S Murugan (55) Mangalur in Cuddalore district was performing the illegal test out of the first floor of the building housing the pharmacy.
The team on entering the room spotted four pregnant women from Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts waiting to learn the gender of their foetuses. Five people, including a nurse, were carrying out the scanning. While four of them escaped, the health department team caught Murugan and handed him over to the Maruvathur police.
The machine used for scanning was also seized. Further, the four women at the spot were warned and sent back to their respective village. All four, who had two children each, approached Murugan to find out the gender of their unborn child. Each of them were charged Rs 5,000 for the test, sources said.
A probe by the Maruvathur police learnt that Murugan earlier worked as a doctor’s assistant at a private hospital. Armed with that experience, he was carrying out the illegal SDTs. Following this, Murugan was arrested while a search is on for others.