Ukraine in Arabic | Sterilization scandal in India
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ The deaths of 13 Indian women from what are suspected to be botched sterilizations at the weekend have caused outrage among their families and sparked protests in the local community.
The authorities in the state of Chhattisgarh in central India have ordered an inquiry.
A seven member team of doctors from New Delhi have arrived in the district to investigate what went wrong.
At least 60 other women remain in hospital, many in a critical condition.
Dr. R.K. Gupta, who had been hiding since Saturday's operations, was arrested at a relative's home near Bilaspur city late Wednesday, said Dr. S.K. Mandal, the chief medical officer of Chhattisgarh state.
Gupta denied responsibility for the deaths and blamed medication given to the women after the surgery.
A total of 83 women had the surgeries as part of a free government-run mass sterilization campaign and were sent home that evening. But dozens became ill and were rushed in ambulances to private hospitals in Bilaspur.
Mandal said at least 13 women died and dozens more were hospitalized, including at least 16 fighting for their lives.
Gupta had performed over 80 sterilization surgeries in six hours -- a clear breach of government protocol, which prohibits surgeons from performing more than 30 sterilizations in a day, Mandal said. He said that investigators were also trying to determine whether the women, all of them poor villagers, had been given tainted medicines.
"I have been performing surgeries for a long time and there has never been any problem," Gupta told reporters in Bilaspur around the time of his arrest.
He said that all the patients began throwing up and complaining of dizziness and weakness after they were given medication following the operations.
Experts say the deaths are the result of a complete lack of medical oversight and the fact that the government in India sets sterilization targets as part of its efforts to stabilize India's booming population.
In the 1970s, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a policy of forcibly sterilizing men who had already fathered two children. Opponents at the time said the program targeted unmarried and poor men, with doctors given bonuses for operating on low-income patients.
India's government had said it stopped setting targets for sterilizing women in the 1990s. But doctors and human rights workers have alleged for years that targets exist - which would lead to inevitable coercion in villages where most people have very limited access to both education and health care.
Mandal has said earlier that Gupta was likely under pressure to achieve his district's target of about 15,000 sterilizations.
In January, Gupta was feted by the state government for performing 50,000 laparoscopic tubectomies.
Sterilizations continue to be the most popular method of birth control in India, with many women opting for them because a one-time operation can help them take charge of their fertility.
But incentive and government quotas make doctors pressure patients into surgery rather than advising them on other contraception options.
Women in most Indian states are promised 1,400 rupees ($23) when they choose to have laparoscopic, or "keyhole," sterilization surgeries like those conducted in Bilaspur. The procedure is one of the most commonly performed minimally invasive surgeries, and is usually done under a local anesthetic.
The relatives of some of the women who died said that they were bullied into getting the surgery. Most of the women had very young babies, some of whom they were still breastfeeding.
"I hope that he can never sleep in peace," said Sadhu, the husband of one woman who died after the operation. "The same thing should happen to him. Then he will know what it is like to lose someone in your family," Sadhu, who uses one name, said.
India has one of the world's highest rates of sterilization among women, with about 37 percent undergoing such operations compared with 29 percent in China, according to the United Nations. About 4.6 million Indian women were sterilized in 2011 and 2012, according to the government.
In comparison, less than 1 percent of men choose to undergo vasectomies even though the cash incentive is higher at about 2,000 rupees ($33). Cultural taboos prevent men from opting for the operation.
