Six aborted fetuses found at Bishnumati; abortion racket suspected

KATHMANDU, Jan 6: Indicating that illegal abortions are still rife in the capital just as during the prohibited period, six aborted fetuses were found near the Bishumati River at Gyantole, Kalimati on Wednesday. The spot from where the fetuses were recovered is quite close to a temporary garbage dumping site of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. [break]



This is the second time fetuses have been found at the spot. After a fetus was found dumped at Okharpauwa-Sisdol landfill site in Nuwakot last July, protesting locals obstructed disposal of garbage for two days.



Fetuses being found at a dumping site means that there are rackets at work which do not even bother to incinerate the organic medical waste and opt to dump anywhere, said DSP Sukadev Neupane, chief of Metropolitan Police Range, Kalimati.



In 2002, Nepal legalized abortions and began offering abortion services at public hospitals. Abortion became a legal and safe choice for women seeking to end unintended pregnancies that are only 12 weeks old or less. The law allows abortion of a pregnancy no matter how advanced it is if it is due to rape or incest or if it poses a danger to the health of the mother.



All the six fetuses found at Bishnumati seem to be older than three months. DSP Neupane guessed that two of them must have been older than seven months, with hair growing on full-shaped heads. None of them seem to show odd developed that would have warranted medically approved abortion. "The smallest one is at least four months old," Neupane said. He said that all the fetuses would be sent for postmortem and other necessary checks as part of investigations.



Among the fetuses, three are male and two female. The remaining one is disfigured and it is not possible to identify the gender.



According to preliminary police investigations, the fetuses might have been accumulated after a series of abortions by an illegal racket over a period of time and then dumped wrapped in plastic bags. "Our intelligence is that clinics that conduct illegal abortions store fetuses in fridges to be dumped together," an official said.



"There are three types of crime involved in this case: murder (of human beings before birth), illegal abortion and illegal disposal of waste," said Neupane, who added that the case has spurred police to hunt down abortion rackets.



Though the government has facilitated voluntary abortion under programs like Community Abortion Care (CAC) which is training grass-roots health activists to handle abortions, there are lots of clinics that handle illegal abortions, mostly in cases of advanced pregnancy stemming from illicit relations.

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