Large network involved in sex determination and sex selective abortions uncovered

A botched abortion led health officials to uncover a large network involved in sex determination and sex selective abortions across the north, northwestern and parts of central Tamil Nadu this week. Among those arrested was a habitual offender, who was reportedly involved in the racket since 2017 and has been arrested three times so far for similar offences.

Through a decoy operation, officials busted the network operating throughout Tirupattur, Kallakurichi, Dharmapuri, Salem, Attur, Tiruvannamalai, Ariyalur, Perambalur and Cuddalore.

A communication from a private hospital where a pregnant woman got admitted for “incomplete abortion” set off the process for health officials in Salem. The Joint Director (JD) Medical Services and Deputy Director (Family Welfare), on conducting an inquiry with the woman, found that a staff nurse in another private hospital near Salem had referred and connected her to Murugesan, one of the main accused in the case, for sex determination.

The officials learned the network’s modus operandi from the woman. Murugesan’s team picked her up from Veppur Koot Road in Cuddalore, took her to a house located five kilometres away and performed the scan using a portable ultrasound machine. The sex of the foetus – female, in this case – was intimated to Murugesan, who then gave a set of instructions to the woman for the abortion.

“He asked the woman to come alone and took her to Kallakurichi. In a house there, he started the abortion process using vaginal misoprostol. However, even after additional pills were used, it did not work out, after which the woman got admitted to the private hospital,” an official said.

Once the modus operandi of the network was clear and having zeroed in on the staff nurse who was the key link to the gang, the health officials worked out a plan to trace and nab the persons involved in the racket.

Teams comprising JD (Salem) S. Nandhini, District Health Officer (Attur) N. Yogananth, Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services team from Chennai – R.M. Meenakshi Sundari (JD), M. Kamalakannan (Administrative Officer), Seetharaman (Assistant Commissioner Police) and Elango (Sub-Inspector) – were formed.

“We prepared a decoy pregnant woman. She was 18 to 19 weeks pregnant. We asked a Village Health Nurse to accompany her as attender. We told the staff nurse to connect them with Murugesan. They were initially told to come to Attur Bus Stand and later to Veppur Koot Road. They reached the spot in a bus, while we trailed them in different vehicles. In about 40 minutes, a man and a woman arrived in a car, took a cash of Rs. 16,000 from the woman and turned off her mobile phone. They refused to take the attender along. But as planned earlier, we gave a second phone with live location sharing to the pregnant woman that she had kept hidden,” an official source said.

While one team followed the car, another team waited on Veppur Koot Road where the women were usually dropped back after the scan. However, the live location turned inactive. “On reaching the location and after undergoing the scan, our decoy pregnant woman turned on the live location sharing while using the restroom. We reached the spot and made our staff wait there. We wanted to ensure the safe return of our decoy pregnant woman and trailed the vehicle back to Veppur Koot Road. Our teams blocked their vehicle and trapped them. We seized a portable ultrasound machine and abortion pills from the car,” he added. Two persons – Thennarasu and Saira Begam were arrested (March 25). Later, Nallammal, a broker, who was waiting with a pregnant woman in Veppur Koot Road, was nabbed. They led the police to Murugesan, who was arrested a few days later. Malathi, who allowed the gang to use her house in Avatti to perform the scan, was also nabbed.

They also found the pharmacy that was supplying the abortion pills to Murugesan. “His network consists of non-medical persons operating in different districts. They charge Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 for sex determination and Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 30,000 for abortion,” he said.

Murugesan was arrested in 2018 and again in 2023 in Kallakurichi. The third arrest was in 2024 in Pennagaram.

This was the second decoy operation in a month. A similar operation was conducted by a team from Krishnagiri following which a government doctor, staff nurse were nabbed and the Clinical Establishments Act licenses of two private hospitals in Salem were suspended.

J. Rajamoorthy, Director of Medical and Rural Health Services, said that all JDs have been told to step up surveillance and act immediately in case of any complaints. They should ensure stringent implementation of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act. “Some districts where the sex ratio is low such as Dharmapuri and Kallakurichi are being closely watched,” he said.