FIR against private hospital for running abortion racket

The Bengaluru Rural district family welfare officials have unearthed an illegal abortion racket running at a private hospital in Nelamangala for the last three years. The racket came to light during a routine inspection.

Based on a complaint filed by S.R. Manjunath, District Family Welfare Officer, Bengaluru Rural district, the Nelamangala town police registered an FIR against Ravi Kumar N.R., owner of Asare Hospital, Subhash Nagar, B.H. Road, Nelamangala Town, charging him under Section 312 (contrived termination of pregnancy), 313 (nonconsensual abortion), 315 (intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth), and 316 (causing death of quick unborn child by act amounting to culpable homicide) of IPC.

Mr. Ravi Kumar is presently on the run and efforts are on to track him down.

In his complaint, Dr. Manjunath said that during the inspection and verifica

It was found that the hospital had, since 2021, performed 74 illegal abortion procedures. It had not maintained records of the procedures

tion of records, it was found that the hospital had obtained license valid till September 2026. The hospital since 2021 performed 74 illegal abortion procedures. It had not maintained records of the procedures performed, which is a gross violation under Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, the complaint said. The inspection team also found that the hospital had not maintained any records of scanning reports nor submitted details of any procedure to the district authority.

Dr. Manjunath has submitted a detailed report to the Health and Family Welfare Department for further action, even as he filed a case with the police appealing to them to collect more evidence like CCTV footage among others.