TIRUNELVELI: Tirunelveli city police arrested Hindu Munnani state secretary K Kutralanathan here on Sunday for allegedly spreading false information on social media claiming that doctors at Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital (TvMCH) intentionally inserted a copper-T contraceptive device on a Hindu woman without consent after childbirth. He alleged that it was an effort to curb Hindu population.
Sources said a 31-year-old woman from Madurai was admitted to TvMCH and she gave birth on November 25. Her father S Maruthupandian from Tirunelveli Town alleged that doctors inserted a copper-T device into his daughter without obtaining consent from him or her. He claimed that the device was improperly inserted, causing severe bleeding and other health complications.
Maruthupandian accused TvMCH of discrimination against Hindu women and alleged that the contraceptive was not being inserted into non-Hindu women.
"When my daughter developed complications, she was readmitted to TvMCH. However, doctors informed us that the copper-T had exited her body along with the blood," he alleged in a petition to health officials.
The controversy escalated after Kutralanathan took to social media, alleging that the hospital administration's actions were part of a deliberate attempt to reduce Hindu population. He demanded a thorough inquiry into the incident and compensation for the affected woman. He also threatened to stage a protest outside TvMCH, sources said.
The hospital administration denied the allegations and filed a complaint with the police, accusing that the information was false. Acting on the complaint, police arrested Kutralanathan under Sections 192, 196(1), and 352 of BNS for allegedly spreading false information and inciting unrest.
Following the arrest, members of Hindu Munnani and BJP staged a protest in front of the TvMCH police station, where Kutralanathan was being interrogated. They demanded action against TvMCH doctors.
The woman also filed a complaint with the city police demanding action against the dean and doctors of TvMCH for allegedly inserting copper-T improperly and without her consent. She told media persons that the staff of the hospital got her signature in an unfilled form when she was suffering from delivery pain.
The police received her complaint and issued CSR. Repeated attempts to contact Dean Revathy Balan ended in vain. The judicial magistrate released Kutralanathan on bail.