How pregnant Rachakonda cops caught 9 docs involved in prenatal sex determination

Prenatal sex determination of an unborn child was banned in India in 1994 under Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act. This was the result of the centuries-old patriarchal Indian society that prefers a son over a daughter. However, case studies have proven that despite the ban, infanticide has been on the rise in most parts of the country and Hyderabad is no different. In 2018, India witnessed one of the highest female infanticide incidents in the world, according to a study by the Asian Center for Human Rights.

Since 2018, the Rachakonda police have laid traps to arrest those involved in the illegal activity. The first case dates back to August 2018 when the Rachakonda police received a tip-off that Sri Krishna Multi Specialty Hospital in Uppal was conducting prenatal sex determination tests. As part of the plan, sub-inspector of police A. Krishnaiah along with two panchas and an eight-month pregnant woman constable approached the hospital. They requested Dr. Umameshwari and her husband Dr. A. Chandra Shekar for a sex determination scan. The deal was struck at Rs. 7,500. After the scan, the doctor couple revealed that the woman was expecting a baby boy. As soon as the report was handed over to the female cop, the team arrested the doctors. This was the first win for the cops.

In the second decoy operation conducted in September 2018, the Choutuppal cops received a-tip off that Prasthanthi Hospital located in the same area was collecting high fees to identify the sex of the foetus. This time, however, the cops had no pregnant constable to lay the trap. They sought the help of a housewife who was five-months pregnant. Accompanied by SHE teams and her husband, the woman approached a mediator, Bedarakota Danaiah, who turned out to be the owner of New Medwin Diagnostic Centre in Choutuppal.

The mediator revealed that Dr. E. Prashanthi and her husband Dr. E. Babu Sridhar were conducting prenatal sex determination tests. The test revealed that the woman was going to have a baby girl. "I rushed to the spot and caught the couple red-handed after the scan. The duo had been conducting illegal sex determination tests for over a year without any registered medical practice certificate. The two doctors and the mediator were arrested," said Chilla Sailu, a sub-inspector of Choutuppal.

The police next targeted Venkateswara Diagnostic Centre at Budha Nagar Peerzadiguda where Chanda Vijaya Kumar (34 ) his wife Chanda Swathi Vijaya Kumar (33) had been revealing the sex of unborn babies for more than a year before they were arrested.

According to the case studies, the hospitals were charging anything between Rs. 6,000-10,000 per scan. In certain cases, the cops had to proceed through mediators who also took their cut, while in a few cases they directly approached the doctors. Speaking to NewsMeter, Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said, "These are dangerous decoy operations as the responsibility of the pregnant constable and the baby is on us. A well-planned trap is laid to ensure that no harm is caused to the expecting mother and soon after the plot is exposed, the pregnant constable is safely brought back to the station. So far, there has not been a single untoward incident. All the cops who were part of the operation have had safe deliveries."

He further added, 'Following the decoy operations, the doctor is arrested and face trial. As per the rule, we ( police) inform the Indian Medical association of the crime. The accused faces imprisonment post the conviction'.

In 2019, the police found that a scanning center in Ibrahimpatnam was conducting tests. They zeroed down on Prathyusha Scanning Centre. A six-month pregnant woman constable disguised herself as a client and approached a mediator, Jangaiah, who ran the SS Diagnostic Centre located adjacent to the scanning centre. The deal was struck at Rs. 7,000 and Dr. Katta Nanda Kishore conducted the test and told the constable she was expecting a baby boy.

In the same year, Dr. Vipparthi Sarala and Dr. Ayesha Fathima of Sri Ushodaya Hospital located in Huda Colony in Mushkmahal-Attapur, who were charging Rs. 3,000 per scan, were arrested.

The last to fall in the trap were doctors from Life Care Hospital near the Gandhi statue in Uppal. In 2020, the police got a tip through a woman police constable who was a regular at the hospital. But this decoy operation turned to be expensive. The mediator and the doctor charged Rs. 15,000 for the scan. The police arrested managing director Veliminati Anjaneyulu, Dr. J Raghava Reddy, and Dr. Shravani.

The doctors were booked under Section 420 and 406 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 23 of the PCPNDT Act 1994. In all the cases, the doctors faced imprisonment.

"The Rachakonda SHE teams put in their best efforts and found sex-determination centres by conducting decoy operations at diagnostic centres and hospitals. They registered six PNDT cases and arrested nine doctors in the limit," added the commissioner of police. He also felicitated the brave work of pregnant women cops.