Priya
A 21-year-old woman and her seven-month-old baby died in Kudalur, Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. Cuddalore police are investigating the incident.
21-year-old Priya lived with her parents in Kudalur, Nilgiri district. When he was working in a grocery store, a young man from the same area and he fell in love with each other.
Priya has been suffering from severe stomach pain for several consecutive days last month. After that he went to the hospital for examination. Only then did it come to light that Priya was six months pregnant. The couple sought to terminate the pregnancy as she became pregnant before marriage. But the doctors said that they could not terminate the fetus as six months had passed.
A few days ago, Priya was taken to the Nilgiris Government Hospital with heavy bleeding. But the doctors said that Priya had died before reaching the hospital.
Based on the information received from the hospital, the Cuddalore police investigated Priya’s death. BBC Tamil spoke to Kudalur Deputy Superintendent of Police Mahesh Kumar about the incident.
“Priya came to know that she was pregnant after the baby was six months old. But when the baby was unable to be aborted, it is said that she took pills to dissolve the fetus. But the baby did not agree with the method they took and the baby died. Not knowing what to do, they buried the baby at home.
The parents rushed her to the hospital as her daughter was bleeding profusely,” said Mahesh Kumar.
Is it due to premature birth??
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After getting the information about the burial of the child in the first phase of investigation, we have taken the buried child through the revenue department and sent it for postmortem. Priya’s body has also been sent for post-mortem. Awaiting two reports. The first phase of the investigation did not reveal that the deceased woman was forced to abort the fetus. A decision will be taken about further investigation only after the post-mortem report,” he said.
At the same time, Priya may have died due to premature delivery, says Cudalur Police Inspector Arul.
“Relatives said that Priya gave birth at home without time to take her to the hospital as she was premature. The baby was stillborn. Due to this, the family did not know what to do and buried the baby at home. She died on the way to the hospital due to heavy bleeding,” says Arul.
In this situation, the police are also investigating whether they took abortion pills. The police say that they will get clarity about this after the final report of the post-mortem.
The police are interrogating the young man who fell in love with Priya and his parents and relatives in connection with this incident.
What is the right time for abortion??
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BBC Tamil asked Vijaya, a doctor and director of the Egmore Maternity Institute, about this.
“If the baby is not more than 24 weeks, abortion can be done in private and government hospitals without any restrictions. But if the baby is more than 24 weeks, there are certain regulations.
Abortion can be done after 24 months if it is known that the baby is unhealthy or difficult to survive. Similarly, if it is a child conceived through sexual violence, an abortion can be done even after 24 months. Abortion is not limited to women under the age of 18, even if they are over 21 and unmarried.
For this, all government hospitals have a team consisting of one obstetrician and one paediatrician. They will decide on it. If it exceeds 24 months, private hospitals will also refer them to government hospitals. This committee makes decisions on a case-by-case basis or can perform abortions with court approval. This will take more time.
But an uneventful, unaffected birth is difficult to dissolve. That’s why people try alternatives. In the case of the Kudalur woman, it is difficult to abort if the pregnancy has passed seven months and there is no adverse effect,” says Dr Vijaya.
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