Wounded Wombs: In Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori district, rural women allege Copper T contraceptive inserted in their bodies without consent
ANC checkup of a pregnant motherat a Haat Bazar Immunization and ANC camp in Chote Donger, Chattisgarh, 20 Dec, 2018. Photo by Altaf Ahmad
Across all seven blocks in Dindori, against the target of 3,000 women, 3,984 had Copper T inserted between April 2019 and March 2020 — an achievement rate of 132 %. Women allege they were not informed. State government officials dismiss such charges.
After the birth of her second daughter in 2014, Rajkumari Parwar, 25, tried in vain to conceive again. Meanwhile, she suffered frequent pain and cramps. Five years later, in 2019, she went to the district hospital in Dindori, Madhya Pradesh, where she learnt the pain and cramps were due to an intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD), commonly known as Copper T, that had moved from its place. It had possibly been inserted to prevent another pregnancy after her second delivery in Jabalpur, without her knowledge, she alleged.
“The pain was too much to bear, and I requested the health staff in Dindori to take it out,” Parwar, who lives in Jarasurang village in the tribal-dominated Dindori district, told Gaon Connection. Parwar gave birth to twin boys in August 2020, but they died.