Project Officer of PNDT Cell, Bathinda, and member of working group of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Sadhu Ram Kusla today wrote to the NCPCR chairperson, demanding “suitable action” against Muktsar Civil Surgeon Dr Jaswant Rai Chauhan for showing “negligence” in an alleged female foeticide case.

In a hard-hitting letter, Kusla alleged that Dr Chauhan took the information provided to him by his Bathinda colleague “lightly”. Kusla further alleged that had the Civil Surgeon taken prompt action on the basis of information provided to him, a girl child could have been saved. Kusla also accused the Civil Surgeon of trying to save the culprits.

Bathinda-based NGO Beti Bachao Manch also shot off a similar complaint against Dr Chauhan to the Punjab State Human Rights Commission, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and Punjab Chief Secretary R.I. Singh, among others.

Notably, Kusla — who claimed to have got a tip-off on the ultrasound of Harpreet Kaur, a resident of Manak Khana village in Bathinda district, for sex determination at Madho Hospital in Muktsar on Monday and her suspected abortion on Tuesday — had yesterday alleged that Muktsar health authorities had failed to nab the pregnant woman and other accused on the spot despite being informed about the registration number and colour of the vehicle. The female foetus, according to Kusla, was four months’ old.

Kusla had also claimed that the information was passed on to authorities in Muktsar by 2 pm, a claim that was contradicted by Muktsar Civil Surgeon Dr Chauhan when he said he received the information at 3 pm. Dr Chauhan had stressed that immediately after receiving the information, three check points were set up on roads leading to Muktsar. Dr Chauhan had also suspected that accused might have changed the vehicle. In the letter to NCPCR today, Kusla claimed that the abortion had been done at about 5 pm. Kusla had also claimed that following a vigil by Bathinda PNDT Cell officials, Harpreet and her family members were finally nabbed in a joint raid by Bathinda and Muktsar health authorities from a house on Bathinda-Malout road, near the thermal plant.