The police have recovered one more skull of an infant, allegedly aborted at the Kadam Hospital in Arvi town, and raids were carried out at several places, officials said here on Saturday.

The case, which has shaken the citizens’ collective conscience, first came to light after the Wardha Police arrested a lady medico, Dr Rekha N. Kadam, a nurse, and two others following the secret abortion performed on a 13-year-old girl there on January 4.

Interrogation of the accused and investigations led the police to discover a veritable ‘grave-yard’ of aborted foetuses or unwanted babies, found in the biogas plant of the hospital compound, stunning the people. (IANS – Jan 15).

In the ongoing digging work by a team of police officials, another skull of an aborted infant has been recovered, taking the total recoveries to 12 skulls and 54 other bones, all unidentified, besides bloodstained clothes and other evidence.

All the recoveries have been sent for forensic analysis to Nagpur, the reports of which are awaited, and further digging is being undertaken in the vicinity.

Simultaneously, raids were carried out at the hospital and the home of the prime accused and police have seized several files, medical records and reports and other evidence.

Police had also detained another relative of the prime accused (Dr Rekha Kadam) in connection with the probe, a lady senior citizen, but she suddenly took ill and was hospitalised.

Investigators and locals say that the hospital had earned a dubious reputation for “all types of abortions” for nearly four decades and people came here from all over Wardha and adjoining districts.

Prominent leaders including Shiv Sena’s Kishore Tiwari – accorded a MoS status – and Pune-based ‘Beti Bachao’ proponent Dr Ganesh Rakh have demanded a “thorough probe” into the medical racket, preferably by a SIT, to unravel the true ramifications like female infanticide on the sly besides illegal abortion, and punish all those found guilty.

As the probe progresses, the possible role or involvement of some persons in the local health department is expected to come under the scanner for their alleged lapses owing to which the illegalities thrived at the hospital for long, violating the provisions of the stringent Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDTA) Act, 1994.

A 27-year-old man was gored to death by his own bull at the ‘Jallikattu’ event held at Periya Suriyur in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchi district on Saturday morning. This is the second death caused during the bull-taming competition in the state.

Addressing the media, the Jallikattu organisers said that the victim, Meenakshisundaram, was guiding his bull to the entrance of the event when the bull gored him on his thigh. When he started bleeding, he was taken to Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.

At least nine people have been injured till now at the Periya Suriyur Jallikattu and are receiving treatment at various hospitals.

The organisers said that 400 bulls and 300 bull tamers are expected to take part in the competition. The district administration has insisted on a Covid negative certificate for the bull owners as well as the tamers. A strong police contingent is present at the Jallikattu venue.

On Friday, a 19-year-old youth was gored to death by a bull at the Jallikattu event in Madurai.

In a shocking incident, a case of son committing rape on his mother has been reported from Kedambadi village in Puttur taluk in Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka. The mother has been hospitalized and the son has been taken into custody, police said on Saturday.

According to police, after the sexual assault by the accused, the victim mother fell sick and was admitted to Puttur government hospital. The 58-year-old mother had lodged a complaint with the Puttur Rural police station about the rape.

The police have registered a case under IPC sections 362 (2) (n) and 506 against the accused. The police say that mother and the accused lived in the same house. The incident had taken place on January 12. The accused who went to sleep in his room, woke up at 3 a.m. and went to his mother’s room and committed the crime.

When the mother resisted and screamed, the accused gagged her mouth with a cloth. He had also threatened her that, if she informed anyone about the incident he would kill her. The accused sexually assaulted her again the next morning.

Presently, the mother is being treated as an inpatient at Puttur government hospital. The accused is married and his wife is staying in her parents’ house. The police are questioning the accused and further investigation is on.