Fetus sex determination racket busted in Tamil Nadu, PHC doctor and nurse among six arrested

KRISHNAGIRI: Health department officials from Salem and Krishnagiri districts along with police busted a fetus sex determination racket on Wednesday by arresting a govt primary health centre doctor, a nurse and four touts. The racket was busted in a sting operation carried out by health department officials.

Krishnagiri district collector S Dinesh Kumar received information about touts who were helping pregnant women determine the sex of their fetuses. "I put together a health department team that includes city health officer (CHO) Dr G Ramesh Kumar and Kelamangalam block medical officer Dr C Rajesh Kumar," the collector said. Two doctors, posing as a couple, approached Gautham, 34, of Rayakottai in Krishnagiri district. Gautham took them to Sagaya Mary, 48, of Tirupathur district around noon on Tuesday. An unidentified person, who was supposed to escort the couple to a scan centre, sought their Aadhaar cards. When they could not provide Aadhaar cards, the person redirected them to Salem district.

The ‘couple’ travelled to Salem along with Gautham and Sagaya Mary and met touts Sangeetha, 38, of Dharmapuri and Ambika, 45, of Salem. They were taken to Kalaimani, 48, a nurse at the PHC in Thedavur in Salem district, on Tuesday night. "The nurse took them to Pasupathy Scan Centre in Veeranam, where they met Dr Muthamil, 45, who works at a PHC in Achankuttapatty," said CHO Ramesh Kumar.

He said they had informed Salem district collector R Brindha Devi and Salem city police commissioner Praveen Kumar Abhinapu. The collector and the commissioner alerted Salem health department officials and the Veeranam police, respectively, to assist the Krishnagiri team.

On Wednesday morning, the teams arrested Dr Muthamil, nurse Kalaimani and the touts --Gautham, Sangeetha, Sagaya Mary, and Ambika -- and seized an ultra-sound machine used for determining the sex of fetuses. The suspects have been remanded in judicial custody and lodged in the Salem Central Prison.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that Dr Muthamil had collected Rs 15,000 from each pregnant woman for fetus sex determination.

The Krishnagiri collector issued a warning that anyone involved in such activities that breach govt regulations would face severe penalties.


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