Indian doctor arrested over dumped foetuses
Tue, Apr 20, 2010
AFP
AHMEDABAD, INDIA (AFP) - Police in India said on Tuesday they had arrested a doctor after 14 foetuses were found dumped in a garbage bin in the western city of Ahmedabad.
The gynaecologist told police he was cleaning out his clinic when an accident damaged some jars containing the specimen foetuses.
"Postmortem of the foetuses showed that they were specimens, as are often kept at medical colleges and clinics," deputy commissioner of police Ajaykumar Chaudhary said.
"The report further said that the foetuses had been aborted six to seven years back."
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation officials suggested that Jayanti Patel had dumped the specimen foetuses after closing down his clinic three weeks ago. They were found by local residents on Monday.
Police said Patel has been booked for unhygienic disposal of bio-medical waste and was being questioned further.
The gender of the foetuses has not been released, but police said they had not ruled out that the case was due to illegal sex-selective abortion.
Abortion of female foetuses is common in India as many parents want sons, and gender imbalances have worsened as modern technology such as ultrasound scans make it possible to know the gender of an unborn child.
In India, the preference for boys is partly due to the key role that sons play in Hindu funeral ceremonies.
Other factors are the substantial dowry gifts that a father must provide for his daughter's new family at her wedding, and the fact that sons are often seen as breadwinners and daughters as financial burdens.
Tue, Apr 20, 2010
AFP
AHMEDABAD, INDIA (AFP) - Police in India said on Tuesday they had arrested a doctor after 14 foetuses were found dumped in a garbage bin in the western city of Ahmedabad.
The gynaecologist told police he was cleaning out his clinic when an accident damaged some jars containing the specimen foetuses.
"Postmortem of the foetuses showed that they were specimens, as are often kept at medical colleges and clinics," deputy commissioner of police Ajaykumar Chaudhary said.
"The report further said that the foetuses had been aborted six to seven years back."
Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation officials suggested that Jayanti Patel had dumped the specimen foetuses after closing down his clinic three weeks ago. They were found by local residents on Monday.
Police said Patel has been booked for unhygienic disposal of bio-medical waste and was being questioned further.
The gender of the foetuses has not been released, but police said they had not ruled out that the case was due to illegal sex-selective abortion.
Abortion of female foetuses is common in India as many parents want sons, and gender imbalances have worsened as modern technology such as ultrasound scans make it possible to know the gender of an unborn child.
In India, the preference for boys is partly due to the key role that sons play in Hindu funeral ceremonies.
Other factors are the substantial dowry gifts that a father must provide for his daughter's new family at her wedding, and the fact that sons are often seen as breadwinners and daughters as financial burdens.
