A Sirsa resident, Ruchi Singh, today allegedly committed suicide at Sangeeta Nursing Home, Sector 21. Nineteen-year-old Ruchi had got herself admitted to the nursing home yesterday afternoon for termination of pregnancy.
She was living with a friend, Gagan, in a rented accommodation in Sector 21. Yesterday afternoon, both Gagan and Ruchi went to Dr Sangeeta’s clinic and got Ruchi admitted to the hospital. After undergoing the procedure, she was put up in Room No. 3.
This morning, when the hospital staff tried to open her room, they found it locked from inside. The staff then removed the air-conditioner from the window of the room and saw Ruchi hanging from the ceiling fan. They called her friend Gagan to the nursing home, where the doctors grilled her about Ruchi.
The police were informed soon after. The cops broke open the door of Ruchi’s room, where they found a one-page suicide note, presumably written by Ruchi.
When questioned, Dr Sangeeta told the police that according to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, any girl who is a major can get her foetus aborted, irrespective of the fact whether she is married or has the consent of her guardians.
Police also recovered a card from the hospital on which Ruchi had written two names and phone numbers - that of Gagan (Ruchi’s friend) and Harry (Ruchi’s “boyfriend”).
While the police recorded Gagan’s statement, Harry remained elusive despite repeated calls by the police. However, police have procured his mobile phone call details.
Police, with the help of Gagan and another girl (Harry’s friend), also visited three houses - one in Sector 15 and two in Sector 21 - where Ruchi had been living in the past seven-eight months and questioned people living there about Ruchi.
Preliminary inquiries made by the police revealed that Ruchi was probably living with Harry at his farmhouse in Banur. Harry owns a mushroom farm in Banur and lives there. His parents, who live in Sector 20, told Newsline that he visits them once in a couple of months and has been living at their farm for the past two years.
Ruchi’s father, who works as a driver with a SDO in Sirsa district, was informed about the incident and is expected to arrive in the city late tonight.
Meanwhile, police have initiated inquest proceedings in the case and are investigating the matter. As far as the liability of the nursing home is concerned, the UT police are also going through the MTP Act to probe the doctor’s role.
However, Dr Sangeeta told Newsline that every woman has a right to discard any part of her body if it is troubling her or if she does not want it. The abortion is legal as the girl was a major, she said.