Woman Dies After Fake Doctors Conduct IVF Treatment, Accused Couple Arrested

A woman died in India after she was administered fake IVF treatment by a couple, who claimed to be doctors, the police said Tuesday.

The accused, identified only as Vani and Manjunath, were arrested in the southern state of Karnataka, where the incident took place. The couple had told the victim they were doctors who had treated hundreds of childless couples, News 18 reported. However, police investigation revealed they had studied only till Grade 10, and did not hold any medical degrees.

The incident came to light after a man, who has been identified as Mallikarjun, filed a report saying his 34-year-old wife Mamatha died Saturday after the fake IVF treatment.

As Mallikarjun and Mamatha did not have children after 15 years of marriage, the couple had approached several hospitals in this regard, but no one could help them, Telangana Today reported, citing IANS.

Later, they were contacted by the accused persons, who claimed they could treat the woman and help her get pregnant. The accused then received about $,5000 from the couple and administered IVF treatment unscientifically, the police reportedly said.

Following the treatment, Mamatha developed many ailments. At the time, the fake doctors told the couple these were changes after the fetus starts developing in the womb. They extracted more money from the couple as complications started to arise.

Later, Mallikarjun took his wife to another hospital for a check-up as she was suffering from abdominal pain. The doctors at the hospital said Mamatha was not pregnant, and had developed kidney, heart, brain and uterus complications as a result of the fake IVF treatment.

Mamatha started receiving treatment at a different hospital, but died Saturday.

The charges placed against the fake doctors remain unclear. It is also not known if the fake doctor couple were part of any such similar incidents.

Last week, the police in the eastern state of Odisha were searching for a 65-year-old man, who pretended to be a doctor and injected several people with solutions meant for livestock. The man, identified as Biswanath Behera, gave two patients injections to deal with their respective ailments. He allegedly administered three livestock injections to one of the patients, who was suffering from prolonged back pain. The incident came to light after the patients became more ill and had to be admitted to hospitals.