An engineering student died of a botched abortion at a private maternity hospital in Hyderabad's Vanasthalipuram area on Sunday, police said.
The 21-year-old died of excessive bleeding. As her condition was deteriorating, the maternity hospital staff shifted her to another private hospital, where she was declared brought dead.
Police have shifted the body to the government-run Osmania Hospital for an autopsy.
The doctor who performed the botched abortion and the woman's partner, Madhu, were detained for questioning.
Police are trying to find out if the hospital violated the guidelines of Indian Medical Council and District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) for conducting the abortions.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Madhu had deposited Rs 20,000 with the hospital for aborting the five-month old pregnancy.
The woman, hailing from Patancheru in neighbouring Medak district, was staying in a hostel, and was reported to be in a relationship with Madhu, a distant relative.
“The woman is a second year B.Tech student and was close to Madhu for two years. We received the information from the private hospital, and booked a case under Section 312 (Causing miscarriage) and 314 (Death caused by act done with intent to cause miscarriage) of the IPC,” Inspector S Murali Krishna from the Vanasthalipuram police station, told a local media outlet.
The woman’s father is a car driver. “The parents said they were unaware of the relationship. We will also cross check records, take the advice of the DMHO and keep them updated on the investigation,” he added.
Police said that cases were also registered against a mediating agent identified as Sirisha, after a police complaint was registered by the deceased’s family.
An investigation has begun into the incident, and further action will be taken after the post-mortem report. Further details area awaited.
Abortions in India
In India, abortions are legal up to 20 weeks - and in this case, it is not clear whether the foetus was more than 20 weeks old. While there are cases in which women have been allowed to abort a later-stage pregnancy for various reasons, the decision has to be taken by a court in special cases.
While hospitals cannot ask adult women for a ‘husband’ or family’s permission for abortion, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy law was made with population control in mind, and not women’s rights or agency. Also, the law makes it mandatory to get 2 physicians’ go ahead for aborting foetuses over 12 weeks, in order to avoid sex selection by the parents.
With IANS inputs