Mumbai: A sonography-cum-IVF centre and a nursing home run by child trafficking accused Julia Lawrence Fernandes without the necessary qualifications were de-registered by the BMC.
Acting on a complaint by Trombay police, the BMC not only cancelled the registration of the in-vitro fertilisation centre, Aham Foundation Centre at Wadala, but also sealed its sonography machine.The Ahana Nursing Home at GTB Nagar was also stripped of its registration.
Fernandes is accused of running a child trafficking racket for a decade and has chalked up eight offences at various police stations and with the crime branch.
A senior civic official mentioned that the clinic was not fully functional according to their information, but they cancelled the registration based on information from the police.
Trombay police said after the arrest of Fernandes and seven others in her latest child trafficking case in October, they had written to the BMC public health department against her illegal sonography centre.
Usually, teams from BMC’s public health department visit sonography centres to ensure compliance with the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act. If paperwork, such as Form F, is not found in order, centres are typically served notices. “However, in criminal cases, the action is stringent such as cancellation of registration,” said the BMC official.
The police said every time Fernandes got arrested in a child trafficking case, she would get bail and immediately return to the racket. Authorities refused to grant sanction to prosecute her under the stringent MCOCA but they decided to pursue her case and ensure that she doesn’t get bail easily.
This October, the Trombay police rescued two newborns sold for Rs 5 lakh in Govandi and arrested Fernandes and others, including fake doctor Sairabau Shaikh and three touts. “The modus operandi of the accused was to look for poor people, particularly single mothers, labourers or divorcees struggling to foot the bill for childbirth, at nursing homes and government hospitals. She would provide them with medical assistance at Shaikh’s nursing home and induce them to give away their child to a good family for Rs 1-5 lakh,” said a member of the special investigation team, including senior inspector Ravindra Ranshevre, sub-inspectors Sharad Nanekar, Anil Bangar, Pooja Salade and constable Pradeep Deshmukh and supervised by DCP (zone 6) Hemraj Rajput.
The Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the department of women and child welfare, and Unicef on November 22 honoured the Trombay police team with the ‘Baal Snehi’ award in recognition of their efforts in the case.
Acting on a complaint by Trombay police, the BMC not only cancelled the registration of the in-vitro fertilisation centre, Aham Foundation Centre at Wadala, but also sealed its sonography machine.The Ahana Nursing Home at GTB Nagar was also stripped of its registration.
Fernandes is accused of running a child trafficking racket for a decade and has chalked up eight offences at various police stations and with the crime branch.
A senior civic official mentioned that the clinic was not fully functional according to their information, but they cancelled the registration based on information from the police.
Trombay police said after the arrest of Fernandes and seven others in her latest child trafficking case in October, they had written to the BMC public health department against her illegal sonography centre.
Usually, teams from BMC’s public health department visit sonography centres to ensure compliance with the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act. If paperwork, such as Form F, is not found in order, centres are typically served notices. “However, in criminal cases, the action is stringent such as cancellation of registration,” said the BMC official.
The police said every time Fernandes got arrested in a child trafficking case, she would get bail and immediately return to the racket. Authorities refused to grant sanction to prosecute her under the stringent MCOCA but they decided to pursue her case and ensure that she doesn’t get bail easily.
This October, the Trombay police rescued two newborns sold for Rs 5 lakh in Govandi and arrested Fernandes and others, including fake doctor Sairabau Shaikh and three touts. “The modus operandi of the accused was to look for poor people, particularly single mothers, labourers or divorcees struggling to foot the bill for childbirth, at nursing homes and government hospitals. She would provide them with medical assistance at Shaikh’s nursing home and induce them to give away their child to a good family for Rs 1-5 lakh,” said a member of the special investigation team, including senior inspector Ravindra Ranshevre, sub-inspectors Sharad Nanekar, Anil Bangar, Pooja Salade and constable Pradeep Deshmukh and supervised by DCP (zone 6) Hemraj Rajput.
The Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the department of women and child welfare, and Unicef on November 22 honoured the Trombay police team with the ‘Baal Snehi’ award in recognition of their efforts in the case.