A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against three persons on Thursday for displaying human foetus in jars at the Rath Mela.
The disturbing case came to light where a stall at Jagganath Mela (Rath Mela) was found displaying human foetus in jars to the visitors. The stall owners were seen charging Rs. 10 per head for showing people the several jars in which undeveloped still born babies and foetus were kept preserved using chemicals.
The case came to light on Wednesday evening when a social activist was sent a photo of these feotus displayed in jars. Baidnath Kumar, the activist who raised an alarm regarding the matter said, “The photos were disturbing and shocking. From what the informer said, the foetus would at times move, probably due to the use of some type of chemical. I immediately contacted the Hatia DSP.”
Getting the information, Hatia DSP, Prabhat Ranjan immediately sent a team of Dhurwa police station to the spot and three persons were arrested.
Ranjan said, “After interrogation we found that the three people are residents of Jaimtri Street in Shaurya Police Station area of Kolkata.”’
The accused, Vakil Maiti, Pintu Maiti and Prabhat Singh informed the police that they would collect the foetus and the bodies of underdeveloped still born babies from near hospitals in Kolkata and preserve them in chemical to be displayed at fairs.
“If what they are telling is true then hospitals disposing foetus out in the open itself is a serious matter. However, we have sent the foetus to lab for testing and further action will be taken only after we get the forensic report,” Hatia DSP said.
While the accused claimed that they had taken permission from the fair organising committee to put up the stall, Praveer Nath Shahdeo of the committee said that the stall was put up without their knowledge.
Meanwhile, Monika Arya of Paa lo Naa, a social organization working against foeticide and infanticide said that around two years ago a similar case came to light in Deoghar were several chemical filled jars containing foetus were found in a field. “The investigation in that case started but it could not reach any conclusion. Maybe this case can also help the police get behind the truth of the Deoghar case,” she said.