KOCHI: At the first sight, it is just another maternity hospital in Kochi. The tense faces of some women make it evident that they are waiting to see the gynaecologist. The thick perfume wafting in the air and the travel bags with international tags underline a Gulf-connection.Prob further and the information is shocking. Many of these women are NRKsworking in the Gulf, back home for ‘treatment’. It is when one goes further intothe details that the sordid details tumble out.They are ‘domestic maids’ waiting for treatment. The disease: ‘Unwanted pregnancy’. In medical terms, what they want is Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) done.No, it is not a planned holiday, though it is a paid one. After the ‘treatment’they will fly back in a week. Almost 500 such maids from the length and breadth of Kerala fly down every year to finish the ‘procedure’ and get back to work in the Gulf.Clearly, there is a spike in the number of domestic workers returning to Keralafor abortion. Only this month, three domestic maids returned from the Gulf seeking the services of gynaecologists at this hospital.“We know several instances of domestic maids from Kerala working in Gulf countries coming back to get their pregnancies aborted. Some of them had to even remove their uteruses after the case became complicated,” said Mary Thankappan, Animator, Ernakulam District, National Domestic WorkersMovement. “Many of them return to the Gulf after the procedures.To protect their job, they hesitate to reveal the ordeal they undergo,” she said.The women going abroad as domestic maids bypass laws and seek the help of recruitment agencies. “Most of them avoid the proper channel and seek the help of various agencies which push them to the destination countries bypassing emigration checking,” said V J Varghese, professor, Centre for Development Studies. “They work there under terrible conditions. However, they are vulnerable even back home as well. So, their mobility should not be checked in view of such incidents,” he said.Ban on abortion coupled with the high cost for illegal treatment force the domestic maids working in these countries to flock to Kerala for the purpose. The cost MTP or abortion comes to Rs 2,500 to 5,000 in Kerala. As per Sharia, Arab countries consider MTP as an act of blasphemy. The recedingpopulation also forces these countries to adhere to anti- MTP laws.According to sources in the medical industry, the number of MTPs is aroundone lakh a year in the state, but the govt puts the number at 25,000 _ of course, that’s the figure from government hospitals in the state.Even as the doctors in private hospitals cater to the demands of these women ona large scale, the government does not have any statistics on MTP conducted by private hospitals.“The private hospitals in the district do not provide any details of MTP. Theynormally give information on communicable diseases only,” said Dr Haseena, Additional District Medical Officer, Ernakulam.
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