Four arrested for aborting foetus, quack on the run

SALEM: Four persons were arrested on Monday for aborting a female fetus.  According to police, Saranya (26), daughter of Poongodi (46), a resident of Gopalapuram near Malliyakarai is married and has a girl child. She became pregnant again and allegedly told her mother that she did not want to give birth to another girl child.

Poongodi approached her friend Alamelu, who in turn approached her son-in-law Chinraj for help. He gave them contact details of a private hospital nurse Siva Brindha (32). She helped Poongodi get in touch with a lab technician, Pugal, who performed a scan on Saranya and revealed that it was a girl.

A quack named Poomani (40) of Attur performed abortion at Poongodi's house. As Saranya fell ill, she visited a PHC in Ariyapalayam where doctors suspected something was wrong. Upon inquiry, Saranya revealed the truth and doctor Sampath lodged a complaint with Malliyakarai police.

A case was registered and Poongodi, Alamelu, Chinnarasu and Siva Brindha were arrested on Monday.  Police are on the lookout for the quack Poomani and Pugal.  Investigation revealed that the private hospital in Attur where Siva Brindha and Pugal worked was sealed following accusations that it revealed gender details.  Siva Brindha and lab technician Pugal took a scanning machine from the hospital and set it up on an ambulance which they used to illegal scan pregnant women at their homes.