A doctor convicted under the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PNDT) on Tuesday committed suicide in the court complex after being sentenced to one-year imprisonment. Bathinda SSP Ashish Chaudhry said a judicial probe (under Section 176 of the CrPC) had been sought into the death of Dr Lakshmi Garg. Police have initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC (police to inquire and report on suicide).

Garg was booked under the PNDT Act following the recovery of two foetus from a heap of garbage near her Rampura Phul-based Garg Maternity and Nursing Home. A case was registered against her in 2004 and a Phul court sentenced her to rigorous imprisonment of two-and-a-half years in February. The verdict was challenged in the Bhatinda Sessions Court, which awarded her a year in prison on Tuesday.

Garg was said to have consumed some poisonous substance after the verdict. She was rushed to a hospital where she died later.