Police registers case against lady doctor in Meghalaya

Shillong, Sep 27: The Meghalaya police have registered a case against a lady doctor for allegedly violating the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

Police said here today the action was initiated yesterday after getting official confirmation from the Medical Council of India that Dr Jyotsna Puri was incompetent to carry out abortions adding that they would arrest her today.

The state government had been vested with the power to appoint the medical practitioners who could carry out abortions, police said adding that the surgeries should be performed at government hospitals or in hospitals managed by the state government and the consent of two other doctors must be taken.

Dr Puri was not authorised by the state government to carry out abortions and she was carrying out the abortions in her clinic ''for commercial purposes'', which is against the law.

Police had recently conducted raids at her clinic after receiving complaints against her for allegedly conducting illegal abortions.

However, Dr Puri had refuted the allegations saying that she had the certified documents which authorise her to carry out abortions and she was not performing them with any profit motive.

UNI