Raids on abortion centres

by Shanika Sriyananda

The Police Women's and Children's Bureau has commenced conducting raids on illegal abortion centres in Colombo. The first raid was carried out on Friday where a major medical centre, which runs the business under the guise of family planning centre, was raided in Kollupitiya with the assistance of retired government medical officers.

The sudden raid carried out by deploying a decoy Women Police Constable found that 14 young women were being operated by elderly doctors.

The OIC of the Bureau Buddhika Balachandra told the 'Sunday Observer' that the Police under the existing law does not have legal authority to arrest doctors. " The women arrested are below 35 and from different parts of the country, including Kelaniya, Matara, Ratnapura, Hokandara, Kalutara and Panadura", he said. According to Balachandra, the names and addresses of the medical officers and the owner of the centres will be produced before the Colombo Fort Magistrate tomorrow.

The centre, which has branches in three other major cities has been operating for the past 25 years. According to police investigations, over 100 abortions were performed daily and Rs. 3,000 was charged for an abortion.

The police seized the equipment used to perform illegal abortions. The women will also be produced tomorrow before the Colombo Fort Magistrate.

Meanwhile, the Police seek public assistance to raid other illegal abortion centres in the country as the number of illegal abortions is on the increase.

According to Health Ministry sources, over 1,500 illegal abortions take place daily and the majority of them are carried out under unhygienic conditions by persons who are ill qualified.