Mumbai: The ignorance of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has played a major role in the flourishing sex-selective abortion racket that was unearthed in Sangli district early this month. Investigators said the drug distributors, who were supplying abortion pills to accused Dr. Babasaheb Khidrapure, were never inspected by FDA’s drug inspectors.
“Had they performed their duty, they would have definitely found some mismatch in the sale and purchase records, and this illegal business could have been exposed much earlier; many baby girls would have been alive today,” said Dipali Kale, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Miraj. Dr. Kale, an Ayurveda graduate, has been handed over the case by Women and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde.
According to Dr. Kale, medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) pills are prescription drugs given by qualified gynaecologists. “There has to be a thorough purchase order in place. If FDA’s drug inspectors had visited the distributors involved, the missing trail would have come up somewhere,” she said, adding that 13 people have been arrested in the case including kingpin Dr. Khidrapure, a homeopath. Two drug suppliers, Sunil Khedkar of Ratna Distributors in Somvar Peth, Sangli, and Bharat Gatagat from Sangli, and a medical representative Datta Bhosale from Mumbai, have also been arrested in connection with purchasing and supplying abortion drug misoprostol in bulk to the main accused.
The racket came to light when a woman named Swati Jamdade died at Dr. Khidrapure’s clinic, Bharti Hospital, in Mhaisal village after a botched-up abortion. Investigators learnt that the homeopath conducted abortions using misoprostol, and Ms. Jamdade died after her uterus ruptured after the drugs were inserted into her. Two days after her death, the police reached an open field near the clinic where 19 foetuses were found buried. The case blew the lid on the interstate racket. Dr. Khidrapure would perform illegal abortions while the sex determination tests were carried out in Karnataka. According to Dr. Kale, Bharti Hospital has been functioning for the last decade and the homeopath has performed hundreds of such illegal abortions.
When the police raided Bharti Hospital, they found an operation theatre in the basement where he conducted the illegal abortions. Medical experts say misoprostol, once administered, induces labour after which a woman aborts herself. “But it can lead to complications if an overdose is given. Only gynecologists can prescribe it,” said a doctor, adding that the drug is available under many brand names.
FDA officials, however, have no answer about how many raids were carried out on Ratna Distributors or whether the other drug supplier was ever scrutinised. C.M. Sakrikar, FDA’s Assistant Commissioner in Sangli district, said, “The case is being investigated by the police, not FDA.”
FDA Commissioner Harshdeep Kamble said inspections are carried out regularly across the State. But when asked about the details of Ratna Distributors, Mr. Kamble did not respond.
If a distributor or retailer has purchased any drug without a bill and sold it without a bill, it becomes difficult for FDA inspectors to trace the illegalities, if any. In 2012, after a similar sex-selective abortion racket was unearthed in Beed, the FDA had announced a major crackdown on abortion pills. More than 24 first information reports were registered across Maharashtra, against drug distributors, retailers and even doctors for not maintaining thorough records of use of MTP pills.
More suspects
Investigators have rounded up seven women from various parts of Sangli, who had undergone abortion at Bharti Hospital. Their husbands are also being questioned. While more women are being traced, Dr. Kale said these couples have not been made accused. “We are collecting as much information from them as possible. We want to build a watertight case and set an example.”
