Municipal health officials raid the flat; Rs 12.8 lakh seized
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A team from the municipal health department raided a flat in Deogiri Residency, Vijayanagar on Sunday afternoon, uncovering an illegal sex determination clinic operated by a 19-year-old polytechnic student. A case has been registered against the accused at the Pundliknagar police station.
Acting on a tip-off that the girl was secretly conducting sex tests on pregnant women, the raid team led by municipal health officer Dr Paras Mandlecha seized various incriminating materials. These included tabs used for pregnancy tests, laptops, scanners used for sonography, lotions, and cash worth Rs 12.8 lakh.
The raid followed months of surveillance after authorities received reports of illegal sex determination happening at the flat. The team apprehended a 19-year-old student, her mother, and her younger brother during the operation.
Dr Mandlecha revealed that the young woman used a mobile application to diagnose the gender of the fetus and displayed the results on a laptop for the pregnant women. The team conducted a panchnama and confiscated all the equipment. Team of Dr Archana Rane, Dr Amarjyoti Shinde, municipal legal adviser Adv Sneha Shinde participated in the raid.
Pune woman visited for sex determination
A pregnant woman from Pune, who already has two daughters, was present at the flat during the raid. She confessed to visiting the clinic to determine the gender of her unborn baby. The authorities also revealed that another woman had visited the flat for a pregnancy test before them.
Possible training from imprisoned cousin brother
Police suspect the student might have received training from her cousin brother, Dr Satish Sonawane, who was arrested by Waluj MIDC police in January for conducting illegal sex determination tests. Dr Sonawane is currently imprisoned, and the student reportedly visited him frequently in jail. The police are investigating the possibility of Dr Sonawane training her during these visits.