Kolhapur : Two homeopathy practitioners and a man were sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by a Kolhapur sessions court for causing a miscarriage without a woman’s consent and for acts intended to prevent a child from being born alive or to cause its death after birth.




Sessions Judge A M Patil on Monday convicted homeopathy practitioners Tanaji Shivaji Patil and Sarika Madhukar Sawant , along with Prakash Shivaji Kumbhar , whose wife was two-and-a-half months pregnant when the incident occurred. The case was registered at Kodoli police station on Dec 10, 2015.




The case came to light after a doctor at a private hospital in Kolhapur alerted police when the woman was admitted following a failed attempt to terminate her pregnancy illegally.




In an order dated Nov 2, the court observed: “It is seen that such type of offence is on rise in the society. Because of the practices of illegal abortion , the health and condition of the woman and foetus are at stake. Therefore, it must be viewed very seriously.”




The court noted that testimony from the private doctor was crucial to the prosecution’s case and that doctors at the hospital had saved the woman’s life through surgery. “Unfortunately, the foetus could not be saved,” the order stated.




Additional public prosecutors A A Mahadeshwar, S S Tambekar and A A Patole appeared for the state. Patole said, “It is a rare conviction, at least in recent years, concerning illegal abortion.”