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Karnataka Today newsletter: Vigilance stepped up following rampant female foeticide racket, and more

The district administrations in Mandya and Mysuru have stepped up their vigilance following police investigations that unravelled a prenatal sex determination and female foeticide racket rampant across Bengaluru, Mandya and Mysuru districts. Mysuru Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra said a team comprising officials from the police, health, urban local body and AYUSH will be constituted to conduct spot inspection of the places which surfaced in the police investigation. 

Investigations into a sex determination racket busted by the Baiyappanahalli police on September 15 have revealed that two doctors and their seven hospital staff involved in the racket had performed 242 sex determination and abortion of female infants in the last three months. The doctors would charge between ₹20,000 to ₹25,000 for abortion and ₹5,000 for sex determination.

On November 26, Central Crime Branch officials also busted a child sale racket and arrested a gang of four, including three women. The accused would approach poor women in Tamil Nadu, convincing them to become surrogates or give up their new born. They would then buy the child from them for a price of ₹2 lakh and sell them to childless couples for ₹8 to ₹10 lakh.

The tiger which had killed a woman at Balluruhundi close to Hediyala range of Bandipur National Park, was darted and captured in the early hours of November 28. A massive combing operation, involving more than 200 forest department personnel and tribals from the local villages, was launched after the attack last week.

A thermal drone was also deployed to monitor the tiger’s movement while 55 camera traps were set to capture its image; the exercise yielded success within four days. The tiger was identified as U-2371, a male which is about 10 years old based on the stripe pattern.

Adding to the rising number of “moral policing” incidents in Karnataka’s coastal belt, Mangaluru South Police have arrested two youths, Akshay Rao and Shibin Padikal, on charges of waylaying, harassing and questioning a man and a woman belonging to different religions for travelling together on a motorbike in the city on November 27.

Police booked a case against the accused under Section 341 (wrongful restraint) and Section 354 (B) r/w 34 (assaulting or using criminal force to any woman or abets such act with the intention of disrobing). This is the 12th incident of “moral policing” reported from Dakshina Kannada (11 cases) and Udupi (one case) during 2023.