19-year-old engineering student bleeds to death after illegal abortion in India

An engineering student died after an alleged illegal abortion at a private nursing home in India's Hyderabad city, police said on Monday (7 August). She was reportedly seven months pregnant.

Abortion in India is legal only up to 20 weeks and under specific conditions and situations.

Police have filed a case against the girl's boyfriend Madhu S, 21, and the concerned doctor Girija Rani. The two have been taken into custody for further interrogation after the girl's father filed a complaint against them.

The girl had visited the Anusha Maternity Hospital and Nursing Home in Vanasthalipuram on 5 August for an abortion. The doctor had charged Rs 20,000 (£240.62) for the operation, according to the Times of India newspaper.

The doctor has been booked for causing death by miscarriage and a case of cheating has been filed against the girl's boyfriend.

"She was administered a pill on admission, following which the foetus was aborted. The girl, however, experienced heavy bleeding and fell unconscious. Later the doctor asked her boyfriend to shift her to another hospital where she was declared brought dead," Vanasthalipuram police station sub inspector Dharavath Vijay said.

On Monday, the girl's body was shifted to Osmania Hospital for an autopsy. Police are also checking if the hospital had the required certification to conduct abortions.

The girl had met her photographer boyfriend at a function over a year ago and later entered into a relationship with him. "The girl's parents were unaware of her pregnancy or her admission to the hospital for an abortion," a policeman said.