19 Female Foetuses Found in Maharashtra, Abortion Racket Suspected

On Sunday, 19 aborted female foetuses were found dumped in a stream at a village in Maharashtra's Sangli district, bordering Karnataka. The Maharashtra government suspects that a cross-border abortion racket is in operation. The state government will take up with Karnataka, the need for joint efforts, to prevent women being taken to border towns for female foeticide.

Probing the case of a pregnant woman's death during abortion, the police had reached the stream in Mhaisal village where they found the foetuses.

Sangli Superintendent of Police, Dattatray Shinde had said the death of a 26-year-old pregnant woman on 28 February blew the lid off the "racket".

The woman had died during abortion at a



private hospital run by a homoeopath, who is on the run, police said.

As the villagers suspected a foul play in the woman's death, they approached the police, following which the racket was busted. Dattatray Shinde, Sangli Superintendent of Police

There are also instances of women from Maharashtra being taken to border areas of Karnataka for abortion. In such cases, Maharashtra Police cannot directly go there and initiate action, Deepak Sawant, Health Minister of Maharashtra said.

Such cross-border nexus does exist, and they profit from loopholes in the policing system and lack of communication between the two state governments. a government official said on condition of anonymity