Chennai: Velachery quack held for sex determination test
TNN | Jan 7, 2020, 06.16 AM IST
TNN | Jan 7, 2020, 06.16 AM IST
CHENNAI: A quack who revealed sex of fetus to at least 500 women in the last one year was arrested and his clinic, Chennai Scan Centre, in Velachery was sealed on Monday. The ultrasound machine he was using in the clinic was also sealed.
Health department officials who raided the scan centre said the quack, K Sivasankaran, with an MSc in zoology, had been operating the clinic since 2014. “We were able to pull out only 500 reports, but he scanned at least 10 women daily,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Thomas Prabhakaran. The health department received complaints about the illegal clinic recently from a network of doctors and patient groups in the area.
On Monday, officials from the Directorate of Medical Services sent a woman, who was five months pregnant, as a decoy. The department trains volunteers to work as decoys to trap doctors and quacks resorting to sex determination and sex selective abortion, which are prohibited by the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994. After the scan on the decoy, Sivasankaran told her she was carrying a male child and charged her ₹1,200.
Health officials led by joint director Dr A Vishwanathan conducted further inquires. His ultra sound machine was not registered with the nodal agency and his scan centre was not registered as per the TN Clinical Establishment Act. “He told us that ever since a radiologist quit the centre in 2014, he has been doing the scans. The entire operation has been videotaped and will be produced in court as evidence,” said vigilance team superintendent M Kamalakannan. Although the team has been cracking down on illegal clinics and quacks through the year, this is the first time in the last three years the team has been able to crack down on a clinic in Chennai.
Since 2016, the overall sex ratio at birth in the state has gone up from 932 (girls born for every 1,000 boys) in 2016 to 933 in 2018 and 936 until October 19. Chennai and Kancheepuram along with seven other districts such as Ramanathapuram, Tiruvallur and Ariyalur, recorded a fall between 35 and 48 points. Chennai, which had a sex ratio at birth of 960 in 2018 recorded a 23 point drop to 937 till October 2019. Kancheepuram also recorded a 14 point fall in the last one year. Joint director Vishwanathan said human intervention plays a huge role in tilting the sex ratio at birth. Sivasankaran was arrested by J7 police station for violation of the PCPNDT Act, for practising medicine without medical degree, cheating and impersonation.
Health department officials who raided the scan centre said the quack, K Sivasankaran, with an MSc in zoology, had been operating the clinic since 2014. “We were able to pull out only 500 reports, but he scanned at least 10 women daily,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Thomas Prabhakaran. The health department received complaints about the illegal clinic recently from a network of doctors and patient groups in the area.
On Monday, officials from the Directorate of Medical Services sent a woman, who was five months pregnant, as a decoy. The department trains volunteers to work as decoys to trap doctors and quacks resorting to sex determination and sex selective abortion, which are prohibited by the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994. After the scan on the decoy, Sivasankaran told her she was carrying a male child and charged her ₹1,200.
Health officials led by joint director Dr A Vishwanathan conducted further inquires. His ultra sound machine was not registered with the nodal agency and his scan centre was not registered as per the TN Clinical Establishment Act. “He told us that ever since a radiologist quit the centre in 2014, he has been doing the scans. The entire operation has been videotaped and will be produced in court as evidence,” said vigilance team superintendent M Kamalakannan. Although the team has been cracking down on illegal clinics and quacks through the year, this is the first time in the last three years the team has been able to crack down on a clinic in Chennai.
Since 2016, the overall sex ratio at birth in the state has gone up from 932 (girls born for every 1,000 boys) in 2016 to 933 in 2018 and 936 until October 19. Chennai and Kancheepuram along with seven other districts such as Ramanathapuram, Tiruvallur and Ariyalur, recorded a fall between 35 and 48 points. Chennai, which had a sex ratio at birth of 960 in 2018 recorded a 23 point drop to 937 till October 2019. Kancheepuram also recorded a 14 point fall in the last one year. Joint director Vishwanathan said human intervention plays a huge role in tilting the sex ratio at birth. Sivasankaran was arrested by J7 police station for violation of the PCPNDT Act, for practising medicine without medical degree, cheating and impersonation.
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