A six-month pregnant woman in Telangana’s Adilabad district died Saturday due to severe bleeding after her husband allegedly forced her to take abortion pills.
Pravallika, 23, was married three years ago to S Prashant from Maharashtra, and the couple have a two-year-old son. They were constructing a new house in Maharashtra. The relatives of the deceased alleged that the husband held a superstitious belief that a woman should not be pregnant when undertaking rituals or responsibilities associated with a new house.
The incident took place in the Bangariguda colony on the outskirts of Adilabad, following which the Adilabad rural police registered a case under Section 90 (Whoever, with intent to cause the miscarriage of a woman with child, does any act which causes the death of such woman) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Circle Inspector Phanidhar said the police are inquiring whether the husband forced her to take the medicines and, if yes, what medicines these were. “The relatives allege that she was forced to take the pills. The woman suffered heavy bleeding during an abortion and could not be saved. The reports of a superstitious belief involved have not been reported to us so far,” he told indianexpress.com.
According to a complaint from Pravallika’s brother V Rajesh, she swallowed an unknown medicine allegedly given to her by her husband. Following this, she experienced severe pain and began bleeding, he said. Prashanth allegedly fled the locality shortly thereafter.
Pravalika was immediately transported to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences IMS, Adilabad, for treatment. During her treatment, she suffered a miscarriage due to heavy bleeding, and her health condition deteriorated significantly. The duty doctor at RIMS Adilabad then referred her to Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad for advanced medical care.
Pravalika passed away while undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital Saturday evening. Her body was subsequently moved to the mortuary at RIMS Adilabad for safekeeping. The police are awaiting a postmortem report to conclude the cause of death.
