NAGPUR: In a heart-wrenching incident in Yavatmal district, a 17-year-old rape survivor, a student of Class 12, succumbed to severe blood loss on Monday at a private hospital in Nanded, a day after being administered an abortion pill by a doctor in Pusad. It was the girl's father who took her for a discreet abortion attempt, but it turned fatal.
The girl, who was over four-and-a-half months pregnant due to repeated assaults by her tuition teacher, died around 6am, leaving her family and community in mourning.
The survivor, a bright student from a modest family in Yavatmal, attended tuition classes by 28-year-old Sandesh Gundekar since December 2024. Initially enrolled for Class 10 preparations, she continued classes through 11th grade and into her current 12th standard.
A police probe revealed Gundekar exploited her trust, luring her with a false promise of marriage and subjecting her to multiple sexual assaults over several months. "Police recorded the dying declaration of the minor, which is strong evidence," said assistant police inspector Pandurang Sindhe of Bhatkuli police station (formerly referred to as Bitargaon in initial reports). The assaults led to her pregnancy, discovered only recently when her health began deteriorating.
Desperate to terminate the pregnancy and shield his daughter from stigma, her father rushed her to Pusad on Saturday. There, the attending doctor prescribed and administered an abortion pill, despite the advanced stage of pregnancy. Within hours, the teen began bleeding profusely.
"She lost consciousness due to massive blood loss," said a senior cop. Rushed first to a private hospital in Pusad for emergency stabilization, her condition worsened rapidly, necessitating a rush to a tertiary care centre in Nanded late Sunday.
Bhatkuli police, after charging Gundekar with rape and invoking the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, arrested him from his residence in Yavatmal. Gundekar is currently in custody and being interrogated.
The doctor at the Pusad clinic is now under intense scrutiny for administering the minor an abortion pill. Police are in the process of seizing medical records and pill samples, suspecting negligence or possible quackery, as administering such medication without ultrasound confirmation or hospital backup violates Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)