HYDERABAD: A 35-year-old pregnant woman died while undergoing treatment after allegedly being subjected to an illegal prenatal sex determination test and abortion in Jangaon district following the discovery that she was carrying a female foetus.Police booked four persons, the woman’s mother, a registered medical practitioner (RMP), an auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM), and the operator of a scanning centre and launched a hunt for the accused. Officials also said that the abortion was performed at the ANM’s house.According to Jangaon town inspector P Satyanarayana Reddy, the woman, identified as Malkapuram Sravani, was a native of Kannayipalli village in Raghunathpalli mandal and had married Ambala Bhaskar Goud.The couple resided in Peerzadiguda in Hyderabad, where Bhaskar worked as an auto driver.They already had two daughters, and Sravani was pregnant for the third time.During her pregnancy, Sravani was staying at her maternal grandmother’s house in Kolukonda village of Devaruppula mandal.Police said her family feared that the birth of another girl child would worsen their financial condition.The CI said Sravani’s mother Shobha allegedly approached a local RMP, Shravan, from Kolukonda for advice.Acting on his suggestion, Sravani and her mother first met an ANM, Anasuya, in Jangaon, who allegedly referred them to a private scanning facility in Hanumakonda.Police said Sravani underwent an illegal prenatal sex determination test at the facility on July 20.The scan allegedly revealed that the foetus was female.The scanning centre was reportedly being operated by a man identified as Praveen.Following the scan, the family reportedly decided to terminate the pregnancy.Police said the RMP arranged for an abortion to be carried out by Anasuya, who allegedly performed the procedure at her residence in Sanjay Nagar, Jangaon, on July 21 after accepting payment.After returning home, Sravani developed severe bleeding on July 23. Her family again contacted Anasuya, who allegedly gave her some tablets.However, her condition did not improve.She was shifted to a private hospital in Hanumakonda on July 24 and later referred to another private hospital in Uppal as her health deteriorated.She was subsequently shifted to Gandhi Hospital, where she died while undergoing treatment on the morning of July 25.Based on a complaint lodged by her husband, Jangaon police on Sunday registered a case against Shobha, Shravan, Anasuya and Praveen.Police said the case was booked under BNS sections pertaining to the illegal prenatal sex determination test and abortion leading to Sravani’s death.Efforts are on to trace the absconding accused and further investigation is under way, the CI said.
