Doctor sentenced imprisonment by JMFC court for illegal sex determination

Bhubaneswar: A doctor named Nabaneeta Padhy was awarded two and half-year’s simple imprisonment (SI) today by the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Court in Bhubaneswar in a case pertaining to illegal determination of sex in her clinic in 2019.

The doctor was sentenced imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 9,000 and in default of which she will undergo SI for another nine months for offence under Section 23 of the Act and a fine of Rs 1,000 and in default of which SI for 20 days for offence under Section 25 of the Act.

A source said that the 47-year-old lady doctor, wife of Dr Sujit Kumar Sahu and residing at BE-104, Buddheswari Enclave, Gajapati Nagar, was running the clinic named Femelife Fertility Foundation (P) Ltd located at Plot Nos-357/3477 and 356/3478, near Biju Patnaik College in Jayadev Vihar locality of the State Capital.

Acting on a tip-off, local police had then conducted a raid on August 30, 2019.

Following which, a case was previously registered in this connection U/s 23 and 25 of the PC and PNDT Act, 1994 leading to conviction of the clinic owner Padhy.