A doctor in India is allegedly under investigation after he’s said to have sterilized 101 women within eight hours at a mass sterilization camp in the tribal village of Surguja in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, the Hindustan Times reports. The incident is believed to have taken place on August 26 between the hours of 7 p.m. and 3 a.m., with health authorities only becoming aware of it on Friday, September 4. They’re now investigating Dr. Jibnus Ekta, who allegedly conducted the procedures, as well as Dr. R S Singh, the district’s medical officer.
- Thankfully, none of the women have experienced complications as a result of the sterilization procedures. A senior health official told the Hindustan Times that the poor women of the community that underwent the procedures were physically harmed as a result. “It is a fact there were 101 sterilization operations, carried out by one surgeon posted in Surguja. Fortunately, all women are healthy and sound but because the number of sterilization operations has crossed the stipulated guidelines, I am ordering an inquiry into the matter,” the official said.
- Doctors in India are only supposed to perform 30 sterilization procedures a day. If even this sounds like too much, consider the fact that India often holds sterilization camps in order to control population growth in the country, so it’s not particularly uncommon.
- Dr. Ekta claimed all the villagers asked him to perform the procedures. Rather than this being a forced situation, the doctor said that he was pressured into performing the procedures by the women themselves. “He claimed he was pressurized by the villagers who told him that they had traveled long distances and it would be difficult for them to come again. This, however, doesn’t mean that the surgeon should flout government guidelines and therefore an inquiry has been ordered into the case,” the senior official said.
- The doctor also disputed the reports that the procedures took place overnight. Instead, he said the sugeries all took place during the light of day, between 12 noon and 6:30 p.m. It remains to be seen what, if anything, will happen to him.
