Last January, acting on a tip-off, police officials in Beed district of the Marathwada region conducted a covert operation on the house of an Anganwadi sevika—a female worker appointed by the government to provide welfare services to mothers and children. The house, where a doctor was available, was equipped with a sonography machine and abortion pills. It was functioning as an underground clinic for illegal prenatal sex determination procedures. In 2022, the Anganwadi sevika and the doctor had been arrested in a case involving the abortion of a pregnant woman who later died. The duo had resumed the illegal business of sex determination, after being released on bail. Their latest arrest laid bare the authorities’ failure to enforce the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, which prohibits sex determination of unborn babies.