Well of Despair

The country was shocked when more than 100 female foetuses were found stuffed inside two wells in Patiala. But is this just the tip of Punjab8217;s iceberg of shame?

EXACTLY how serious are the Punjab police about cracking down on the abortion racket? A week after more than 100 aborted foetuses, mostly female, were recovered from two wells close to a private hospital in Patran town, 50 km away from Patiala, it would seem, not at all.

So far, the only people in the police net are Pritam Singh and his wife Amarjit Kaur, who ran the Sahib Singh Hospital. Investigations have revealed that neither has a medical degree, essential for terminating pregnancies. Pritam Singh, who studied upto Class VI, assisted a registered medical practitioner for a while after quitting the army as a sepoy in 1987. Soon afterwards, say the police, he procured a fake RMP certificate from Sirsa and set up the 8216;hospital8217; with his wife, who worked as a midwife after a Class IV education.

For close to 20 years, the Singhs plied their heinous trade of illegal termination of pregnancies after ultrasound tests detected female foetuses. The couple allegedly developed a network with local midwives, who would refer expecting women and their families to them for tests and subsequent abortions for commissions.

8220;Charges depended on conditions. If the girl concerned was unmarried, they demanded a higher price, anything upto Rs 10,000. It all depended on the paying capacity of the family,8221; said an investigating official.

India passed a law to ban the use of diagnostic tests to determine the sex of the unborn child in 1994. But as recently as January 2006, prestigious British medical journal Lancet reported that selective abortions had terminated the lives of as many as five million girls since the law was passed, and as many as 10 million in the 20 years since the technology became available.

The consequences of selective foeticide became shockingly apparent in the 2001 national census, when the sex ratio in Punjab plummeted to 874 females for every 1000 males. In adjacent Haryana, the ratio is worse: 861 females for 1000 males.

For campaigners against female foeticide, the worrying factor is the ubiquitousness of operations such as Sahib Singh Hospital. The racket would have continued undisturbed were it not for a disgruntled midwife by the name of Pooja Rani, who was apparently seeking to settle a score by leading the Punjab police to the well where the Singhs dumped the aborted foetuses.

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However, though it is clear the operation could not have thrived without local support, the police action has not touched anyone apart from the Singh couple. Arrested under the PNDT Act, both were remanded to judicial custody for 14 days last week by the Samana court.

8220;It would be difficult for us to substantiate their involvement,8221; said SI Jagbir Singh, SHO of the Patran police station, when asked why no action had been taken against their support structure. 8220;Midwives would never admit that they were party to the crimes. Moreover, not a single one of their patients has come forward to complain. In such a situation, we have to confine ourselves to circumstantial evidence and whatever we seized from the hospital.8221;

The police raid, supported by Patiala civil surgeon Dr H S Mohi, found remains of several foetuses, besides equipment, instruments and medicines used in abortions.

At last count, there are 1,315 ultrasound centres in Punjab. Though state health minister R C Dogra announced last month that a matrix of awareness-creation, stringent punishments and handsome incentives for parents of girls would be in place soon to pro-actively combat of 8220;evil trend8221; of female foeticide, there is no saying how many of the approved centres are working to skew the sex ratio.

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THERE8217;S also the very real factor of a tacit societal preference for male children. 8220;It8217;s a misconception that girls in our society have the same powers and status as boys. Though her rights are well-defined, implementation is the pits. Our society still believes in having a son to run the family. The government has to take up the cudgels to implement the rights of the girl child,8221; said Dr Jaswinder Singh, professor in Punjabi at Patiala University.

That is why, said Dr Rana Harinder, director, health services family welfare, 8220;the thrust has to be on the mobilisation of social acceptance of the girl child. Society has to realise her worth.8221;

The way there, said Dr Varinder Singh, chief medical officer of Punjab, lies through making an example of those found guilty of 8220;such nefarious activities8221;. So far as the health department is concerned, he said, 8220;We are conducting meetings every month discussing the relevant problems and issues. The government is also chalking out specific plans to combat female foeticide8221;.

For the moment, the campaign rests with the policemen at Patran. Will their chargesheet be strong enough to stand up to the defence of the wealthy Singh couple? Will they find the prosecution witnesses who will take the stand against the quacks?

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Or will the Singhs get away with fines of Rs 4,000 each 8212; the maximum ever extracted from an abortion accused in Punjab?

WITH RAGHAV OHRI