The court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kurukshetra, has convicted four persons, including a doctor, a tout and a couple, under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act for determining the sex of a foetus.
The court sentenced Dr Kaushal Kumar of Uttar Pradesh and Sandeep Kumar of Ladwa to three years of rigorous imprisonment each and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on both under the PCPNDT Act. They were also sentenced to six months’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 120B of the IPC and fined Rs 1,000 each. Both sentences will run concurrently.
The court also sentenced Rekha and Rinku, a couple from Karnal, to one year of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 each for getting the test conducted. The couple has five daughters.
Four other accused — Dharambir, Kuldeep, Ram Chander and Deepak — were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
In May 2016, acting on a tip-off about a racket involved in conducting illegal sex determination tests, a team of the Kurukshetra Health Department arranged a decoy patient and established contact with a tout. A deal was struck for Rs 18,000 for the test. The tout asked the decoy to reach Ladwa.
On May 29, the decoy reached Ladwa, where another pregnant woman and her family members were waiting. The woman was later identified as Rekha, who had arrived along with her husband, Rinku. Driver Sandeep then took them to the clinic of Dr Kaushal Kumar in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh.
On their return, Sandeep, Rekha and Rinku were arrested. To apprehend the doctor, another operation was launched and he was arrested by the raiding party after allegedly conducting the test.
In its judgment, the court observed that the act was a crime against humanity, the dignity of women and the constitutional promise of gender equality. The act of prenatal sex determination is the first step towards female foeticide, resulting in the silent extermination of countless unborn girl children. It is an assault on the right to life of the girl child. Such practices perpetuate a discriminatory mindset that treats daughters as less worthy than sons and thereby contributes to the alarming decline in the female sex ratio.
The order further reads that accused Rekha and Rinku had accompanied accused Sandeep for the sex determination test. They voluntarily contacted Sandeep and gave their consent for determination of the sex of the foetus.
“A declining sex ratio is not merely a demographic concern; it is evidence of a deep rooted social prejudice against women. Every illegal act of sex determination strengthens this prejudice and delivers a message that a female child is less desirable. Such thinking has no place in a civilised society governed by the rule of law,” it further reads.
The court’s order read that a stern punishment was necessary to convey a clear message that the womb of a mother cannot be converted into a place for gender discrimination and that every child, whether male or female, has an equal right to be welcomed into this world with dignity and respect.
Deputy Civil Surgeon, Kurukshetra, Dr Ramesh Sabharwal said, “It was an important judgement as the couple involved in the illegal activity has also been sentenced. As many as 35 cases are in the court of which four have been decided and three were in the favour of the health department. A close watch is being kept on people involved in the test rackets.”
