‘Sangli doc confesses to crime’
Homeopath doctor has said during his interrogation that all foetuses he aborted were females
Homeopath doctor Babasaheb Khidrapure had built a systematic network in south Maharashtra and neighbouring Karnataka for sex determination and aborting female foetuses. He has been allegedly running the racket for some years.
On Sunday, foetuses were found dumped near a stream in polythene bags. The police have sent samples of aborted foetuses for DNA test.
Khidrapure has confessed during his interrogation that all of them were female foetuses, said the police. The police, however, are going cautiously and will wait for the DNA report.
The police believe that some locals may have been working as agents for Khidrapure in identifying couples, who want to have sex determination test and abort female foetus.
The police have identified some people in Sangli district and Karnataka and are collecting evidence to arrest them.
Police sources said some doctors, who used to carry out sex determination test illegally, were advising pregnant woman to approach Khidrapure if they wanted to abort a female foetus. A systematic communication channel was working to establish contact between Khidrapure and pregnant women.
The police cited 26-year-old Swati Jamdade’s case. An agent had approached her parents after her death and offered them a blank cheque to not approach police.
Sangli SP Dattatreya Shinde does not rule out the possibility of eminent doctors in Sangli and Miraj being involved in the racket. The register seized by police has entries of visiting doctors from December 2009 to March 2013. It also has record of money given to doctors. Shinde said names of several doctors in Sangli and Miraj were found in the register and action would be taken after collecting evidence.
The police still do not know how much Khidrapure charged. They believe that amount must be big considering number of people involved in the illegal act.
The cops have zeroed down on more than 10 people, including Ravi Sutar, who used to supply milk to Khidrapure family. He told the police that Khidrapure gave him polythene bags and asked him to dispose them of.