Dharmapuri: home-run foetal sex test centre busted, nurse and agent held near Palacode

Health department officials in Dharmapuri district, Tamil Nadu, raided a house in Mekkalampatti village near Palacode where the sex of unborn babies was allegedly being determined illegally, and two people, a nurse and a man accused of bringing in pregnant women, were arrested, according to reports published on October 10 and 11, 2026. A medical team led by a health department officer seized a portable scanning device from the house. The two were arrested through the Palacode police after a complaint from the health department and were produced in court. Police told reporters that both had been arrested three times before for the same offence. Further investigation is under way.

The case is a reminder that the preference for sons, and the pressure some families place on women to deliver one, has not disappeared. Sex determination is the first step towards sex-selective abortion. When a family learns the baby is a girl, the expectant mother can come under heavy pressure to end the pregnancy. That pressure often comes from inside the home, from a husband or in-laws, and the woman herself may have little say. The fact that the centre was run from a private house, away from a registered clinic, shows how far some people will go to avoid the law and how determined some families remain to know.

The repeat arrests are a serious concern. If the same people can be caught three times and return to the work, it suggests that the deterrent is weak and that demand from families is steady. Earlier cases in the region point to the same pattern. In mid-2026, six people, including a doctor and a nurse, were arrested in a racket uncovered with the help of a decoy couple in neighbouring Salem district, in which one of the alleged touts was from Dharmapuri.

Tamil Nadu has tried to tighten enforcement. On February 3, 2026, the State Supervisory Board under the PCPNDT Act, chaired by Health Minister Ma Subramanian, reviewed enforcement in all 38 districts. The state has 9,070 registered scan centres, 1,727 of them run by the government and 7,343 private, and in 2025 it started action against 15 centres for breaking the law. The board also flagged a new trend of people travelling abroad to find out the sex of the foetus and said the law applies wherever the offence is committed.

For families, the message from officials is plain: finding out the sex of an unborn child is a crime, and so is helping someone do it. For daughters, the real change has to come from homes where a girl's birth is valued as much as a boy's.

Short-term: The two accused face prosecution, and health officials are likely to step up checks on unregistered scanning in the Palacode and Pennagaram areas. Police are investigating whether others, including families who used the service, were involved.

Long-term: Cases like this test whether repeat offenders can be stopped. Stronger prosecution, faster trials and community awareness about the value of daughters are all part of improving the sex ratio.

Who is affected: Pregnant women who may face pressure to learn the sex of their baby, families in Dharmapuri and nearby districts, health workers enforcing the law, and the girls whose births depend on it.

Questions and Answers