Syed Rizwanullah TNN

Aurangabad: The Beed health department officials on Monday initiated procedure to cancel the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) registration of doctor couple – Sudam and Saraswati Munde of Munde hospital in Parli Vaijanath, about 200 km from here.

The Mundes are facing the action after Vijaymala Mahadeo Pattekar (32), a sugarcane harvester, died at their hospital during an operation to terminate her pregnancy on May 20.

Beed civil surgeon Gauri Rathod submitted a detailed report to MMC on Monday seeking to cancel the registration of Mundes as registered medical practitioners. Rathod told TOI on Monday that she submitted a report in this connection to the MMC because the powers to cancel or suspend the license to practice rested with the MMC.

Earlier Rathod said, "The Beed session court cancelled the Munde couple’s bail that was granted in connection with last year’s violation of the Pre Conception and Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PCPNDT). The health department authorities had lodged a complaint last year against the doctor and withdrew the licenses to perform medical termination of pregnancy and conduct sonography tests."

Meanwhile, Avinash Yelikar, the vice-president of the MMC told TOI, "The Beed health official’s proposal would be tabled at the MMC’s next meeting to decide whether to cancel or suspend the doctor couple’s license to practice."

Yelikar said earlier, license of five doctors from the Beed district had been suspended or cancelled, but they had obtained a stay on the MMC decision. “So far the MMC has taken such an action against 20 doctors across Maharashtra. Some of them, including the Beed doctors obtained a stay, while suspension of some of the doctors was revoked by the MMC. However, in case the doctors are convicted their licenses would be cancelled for ever," he said.

He said the MMC has taken the complaints related to female foeticide seriously and was looking at instant action against such people. "The MMC also informs municipal council authorities and district health officers (DHOs) of zilla parishads (in case of rural areas) that the doctor concerned has been barred from practice and that they should take a note of it," he said.

Meanwhile, Mumbai-based Yashwantrao Chavan Pratitsthan of Supriya Sule, the NCP MP, decided to adopt the four daughters of Vijayamala."The pratishthan will bear all the expenses to be incurred on their education, upkeep and health," said Nilesh Raut, convener of the pratishthan.

He said, following reports, Sule had sent him to Bhopa, in Dharura taluka of Beed district on Sunday, to meet Vijaymala’s daughters and other relatives. Raut said Vijaymala and her husband Mahadeo were sugarcane harvesters in western Maharashtra.

"The family is poverty stricken and had no landed property and means except working as sugarcane harvester. Vijaymala’s in-laws Nilabai and Shankar Pattekar, regretted their daughter-in-law’s death, but didn’t speak further on the issue," Raut said.

However, he said, they accepted Sule’s letter offering a long term help to Vijaymala’s daughters – Rohini (11), Tejaswini (9), Rutuja (7) and Rama (2). "With their father Mahadeo in prison (he was arrested by the Parli police in connection with Vijaymala’s death four days ago), Nilabai and Shankar were worried about the girls’ future.

The letter was delivered to them in the presence of Dhairyasheel Solunke, the chairman of the Majalgaon cooperative sugar factory and social activist Eknath Avhad," he added.

Non-bailable section against the couple

The Parli police on Monday added yet another section of the IPC, Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against the doctor couple. "The judicial magistrate I class, R R Kale, while allowing the police to add the section, issued a non-bailable warrant against the couple," said additional government pleader at Parli, Atul Tandale. He said on the day they were arrested, the couple was booked under Sections 304 (a), which is a bailable section. Later, the police added Sections 312, 314, 315 and 316. However, on Monday, the police approached the court seeking to register an offense against the doctors under Section 304 of the IPC, which is a non-bailable section, Tandale said. The police brought to the notice of the court that both Sudam and Saraswati Munde are absconding.