A 27-year-old woman’s illegal sex determination, her botched abortion by a quack in Dharmapuri and her eventual admission to critical care at Krishnagiri Government Medical College Hospital has thrown the spotlight on illegal sex determination and foeticide, despite attempts by hospital and health authorities to keep it under the radar.
On May 14, the woman Vanaja was admitted to Krishnagiri Government Medical College Hospital in a critical state. In the wee hours, a mysterious car had dropped Vanaja and her mother from Dharmapuri back at their house in Chettimarampatti village in Kaveripattinam, Krishnagiri, after a botched abortion attempt by a quack.
“It is almost like a Netflix thriller, cinematic”, says Thamarai Selvi, Block Medical Officer, Kaveripattinam, who was tasked with the inquiry into the incident at the block level. Vanaja had claimed she was accosted by a woman at some bus stop, who had offered to help her find out the sex of her foetus and abort it. A number–73975 44546– saved under the name ‘Priya’, was exchanged with Vanaja. (The number has since been switched off.) Vanaja and her mother were asked to reach Dharmapuri bus stand and wait there. From there, Vanaja was “blindfolded and taken to a scan centre” in Dharmapuri, where the foetus was determined to be female. She was then asked to return after two days for the illegal abortion. Vanaja and her mother were again picked up from Dharmapuri Government Hospital or the bus stand in a car. Her mother was dropped off midway and Vanaja was blindfolded and taken to an unknown location, according to her account to the Block Medical Officer.
