Foetuses recovered from garbage were congenitally deformed – forensic report

With the foetuses recovered from a garbage dump in Bangalore showing congenital deformity during a forensic examination, the Karnataka Government has ruled out the possibility of foeticide as alleged by the State Women’s Commission.

Citing the findings of the forensic report submitted by Victoria Hospital in Bangalore to the Government, Karnataka’s Minister for Women and Child Welfare H K Kumaraswamy said all the foetuses submitted for examination had congenital deformities. “So, it does not appear to be a case of foeticide”, he said.

Also, contrary to State Women’s Commission Chairperson Pramila Nesargi’s claim that more than 20 foetuses were recovered from the garbage dump, the Department of Forensic Medicine at Victoria Hospital claimed that they received only seven foetuses, ranging between 45 days to six and a half months.

“Out of the seven foetuses submitted for examination, five were found to be male and the remaining two were female”, said Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine, Victoria Hospital, D K Devdas.

“None of the foetuses appear to be illegally aborted. All the seven cases are premature deliveries and the foetuses were malformed. While one foetus had a very small head with an underdeveloped brain, another had a very large head filled with water. One foetus had spinal malformation and others had facial deformities. None of them would have survived their full term”, he said.

Devdas said the foetuses had been preserved in formaldehyde along with some parts of uterus and tumours, indicating that they were being used for teaching purpose at a medical institution.

Meanwhile, Pramila Nesargi, who did not appear convinced that only seven foetuses were recovered from the gunny bags found in the garbage dump, said she would need to verify the matter. “Initially, the police was not willing to register a case. They booked a case only at my insistence. Now, they claim they found only seven foetuses. I will have to look at the FIR filed by the police and verify other documents before making a statement”, she said.

However, the Government is convinced that the law had been violated in the disposal of the foetuses and other hospital waste in such an unhygienic manner without adhering to the Environment Protection rules. “I know some law is violated”, H K Kumaraswamy said referring to the illegal dumping of the foetuses.

With Bangalore hospitals generating more than 10 tonnes of hospital waste every day, Environment Protection rules have made it mandatory for hospitals to separate the bio-hazardous waste from other waste and incinerate it.
Karnataka’s Minister for Health R Ashok said a police inquiry will be conducted to ascertain the identity of the persons or institution responsible for dumping the foetuses and other materials in such an unscientific manner