Telangana: Three held for MTP of minor; private hospital booked too

HYDERABAD: A trucker, his father and an aide were arrested by Nalgonda police for illegally terminating the pregnancy of a 16-year-old girl at a private hospital in Ibrahimpatnam. The girl was pregnant after alleged sexual exploitation by the trucker, who hails from her village.
With support of his family, the accused took the girl to a private hospital and forced illegal termination of her pregnancy. Based on the complaint of the victim's family, Nalgonda police registered a case against the accused and sent the accused trio in judicial remand.
On May 5, the girl’s mother lodged a complaint with Marriguda police. “My 16-year-old eldest daughter was sexually exploited by a 25-year-old truck driver from our village and she became pregnant. When my daughter was six months into pregnancy, the accused along with his family took her to a private hospital, where she was confined to a room and her pregnancy was medically terminated," the complainant alleged.
During a preliminary probe, police found that the accused forced the girl to swallow tablets for terminating her pregnancy, and when her health deteriorated on April 30, he along with his father and another villager, took her to a hospital in Ibrahimpatnam. "The girl turned critical from heavy bleeding. Doctors at the hospital claimed they had to terminate the pregnancy to save the girl (on May 1),” Marriguda sub-inspector (SI) Venkat Reddy said.
However, based on the complaint of the girl's mother, police registered a case under Sections 417, 420, 312, 342, 376(2) (n) of the IPC, 5(l) r/w 6 of the POCSO Act against the truck driver, his father, their associate and the hospital management. “We arrested the main accused, his father and the villager. We have written to the district medical and health officer on the alleged illegal termination of pregnancy at a private hospital. Health department officials inspected the hospital on Thursday,” the SI said.