Almost two months after a 24-year-old woman died due to haemorrhagic shock during an illegal abortion in Sangli district, yet another unqualified doctor's hospital was raided in the heart of Mumbai for previously conducting illegal abortions.
On Wednesday, acting on information given by a confidential source, Maharashtra's Food & Drug officials found that an Ayurvedic doctor, Savita Chavan, who runs Ruby Diagnostic Center and Maternity home in Vikhroli was treating gynaecological patients. Speaking to THE WEEK, FDA Commissioner, Harshdeep Kamble, said, "The raid began at 7.30 pm and went on till the wee hours of Thursday morning. We had seized drugs worth Rs 70,000 and found 15 used Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) kits in Ruby Maternity Home. We also found 11 unused MTP kits."
"An Ayurvedic doctor is not allowed to perform medical abortions on patients and Dr Chavan has violated the Bombay Nursing Home Act. On Thursday, we lodged an FIR in Vikhroli police station under the Drug and Cosmetic Act and the Pre-Conception and Pre-Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act. However, we have not been able to get in touch with the doctor, who is currently absconding," added Kamble.
Around 10 days earlier, Dr Chavan was issued a show cause notice by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) after the FDA informed them that the Ayurvedic doctor had violated the Bombay Nursing Home Act.
On March 5, Swati Jamdade succumbed to haemorrhagic shock at Bharti hospital at Mhaisal in Sangli district after an illegal medical abortion was performed on her by a homeopathic doctor. A post-mortem revealed she had an ectopic pregnancy. Following her death, the illegal abortion racket was exposed which led the police to recover 19 aborted fetuses which were dumped in a plastic bag.
The homeopath, Dr Babasaheb Khidrapure, and 11 others were arrested for conducting sex determination tests and illegal abortions.
