FIR lodged against Pahlajani Hospital and Mata Laxmi Nursing Home management
Raipur. Following the recent Supreme Court ruling, the police have filed an FIR against the management of Pahlajani Hospital and Mata Laxmi Nursing Home, accusing the operator and doctor of child swapping three years ago.
According to reports, the family alleged that the pregnant mother was taken to the operating theater without their knowledge. After delivery, twins were born. When the babies were presented, they appeared different. Alleging child swapping, the victim's family went from the High Court to the Supreme Court. Ashok Kumar Singh, a resident of Bacheli in South Bastar Dantewada district, and his wife, Usha Singh, went to Mata Laxmi Nursing Home in Anupam Nagar, Raipur, hoping to conceive in 2022. Doctors at the Pahlajani Test Tube Baby and Surrogacy Center there assured them of a child through IVF. The first IVF procedure was performed in October 2022, resulting in Usha Singh's pregnancy. However, due to health reasons, an abortion was required in December 2022. A second IVF procedure was then performed in April 2023, confirming the presence of twins.
On December 25, 2023, Usha Singh was taken to the operation theater without her family's prior knowledge. After delivery, Usha Singh told her family that she had given birth to a boy and a girl in the operation theater. However, the newborns handed over to her some time later appeared to be different. The family alleged that the babies had been exchanged. The managing and treating physicians, Dr. Neeraj Pahlajani and Dr. Sameer Pahlajani, dismissed this as a misunderstanding. As suspicions grew, Ashok Kumar Singh commissioned a DNA test from a private agency. The matter reached the Supreme Court. Considering the facts presented during the hearing to be serious, the Supreme Court directed the Raipur Superintendent of Police to register the complaint as an FIR and investigate the role of Mata Laxmi Nursing Home, Pahlajani Test Tube Baby and Surrogacy Center, its operators, the doctors involved, and the Metropolis Pathology Lab. An FIR has now been registered in this case.
