Chhattisgarh sterilization deaths: Surgeon gets 2-year jail for 2014 tragedy

RAIPUR: A decade after 12 women died following botched sterilization surgeries in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district, a local court on Tuesday convicted the surgeon who conducted the procedures and sentenced him to two years in jail.The court of first district and additional sessions Judge Shailesh Kumar Ketarap held Dr R K Gupta guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in connection with the 2014 incident. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 for each of the 12 deaths, additional public prosecutor Devendra Rao Somawar said.Apart from the main charge, the court awarded additional sentences under other provisions, including six months’ imprisonment with a fine of Rs 500 and one month’s jail with a fine of Rs 100.

All sentences will run concurrently.The case dates back to November 8, 2014, when a sterilization camp was organised at a private hospital in Pendari near Sakri village in Takhatpur block. As many as 83 women from nearby rural areas underwent sterilisation procedures during the camp, following which several fell ill. Twelve women later died, triggering nationwide outrage and raising serious questions over the conduct of mass sterilization drives.Since the sentence awarded is less than three years, the court granted bail to the convict as per legal provisions, the prosecutor said.