Maharashtra: Two years on, state govt forms panel to probe Nashik illegal abortion case  

The gynaecologist and another resident doctor were booked by the Nashik police under sections of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and the IPC.

More than two years after an illegal abortion was reported being conducted at Nashik civil hospital, the Maharashtra government on Friday constituted a four-member committee headed by former state DGP Datta Padsalgikar to inquire into the case.

In April 2017, Dr Varsha Lahade, a gynaecologist at the Nashik civil hospital, was accused of having carrying out an abortion on a 24-week-old foetus in March that year. Under existing laws, abortions can’t be carried out beyond the 20-week limit. The gynaecologist and another resident doctor were booked by the Nashik police under sections of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and the IPC.

Lahade is alleged to have carried out the abortion in the government hospital and was caught after a special squad of the Nashik Municipal Corporation raided the hospital after the tip off. She was subsequently suspended.

Almost two years after the incident, the state Health department on Friday announced that a four-member team headed by Padsalgikar will inquire into the incident and report to the government. The panel has also been asked to draft suggestions to help plug loopholes in the system and avoid such incidents in the future.