The ongoing female foeticide controversy in Maharashtra refuses to die down, with the latest incident coming to light in Solapur. A midwife was arrested on Friday night while trying to bury a female foetus in a cremation ground in Solapur, and the police has arrested her as well as a doctor who paid her to do the job.
According to the Jodbhavi Peth police, passersby spotted the midwife, identified as Lalita Kamble in the Lingayat cremation ground on the Roopbhavani road in Solapur late on Friday night. Suspecting something amiss, they investigated further and saw that Kamble was carrying a foetus, later found to be that of a girl. Kamble was overpowered and handed over to the Jodbhavi Peth police.
“Based on Kamble’s statement, we went on to arrest Dr Sangita Gurav, who works with Upase Hospital in Solapur. The directors of the hospital, Dr Ajit and Priyadarshini Upase, are on the run and we are trying to apprehend them,” said Sikander Nadaf, senior police inspector, Jodbhavi Peth police station. The accused have claimed that the foetus was the result of a miscarriage and that Kamble was only disposing it off.
“We are awaiting post-mortem reports which will confirm if the foetus died due to a miscarriage or an abortion. We are also trying to find out if Kamble and Gurav have committed similar offences in the past,” Mr Nadaf added.