YouTuber Irfan sends apology letter to Tamil Nadu health dept for posting videos of prenatal child's 'gender reveal'

CHENNAI: Popular Tamil YouTuber Mohammed Irfan has submitted an apology letter to the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services for posting prenatal gender reveal videos on his YouTube channel.

On May 21, the state health department had sent a notice to Irfan for violating the PCPNDT Act, 1994 and had asked the Tamil YouTuber to remove the videos about the prenatal sex determination test and subsequent disclosure.

Irfan and his wife, Aaliya, had recently gone to Dubai to take a prebirth sex determination test. He had announced that Aaliya was pregnant a few weeks ago. He then posted a video titled 'Boy or Girl Baby? Gender Test' on his 'Irfan's view' channel on May 19 where Aaliya is shown undergoing the prenantal sex determination test at a hospital in Dubai, where it is legal, unlike in India.

On Monday, Irfan had also posted a video from a 'gender reveal party' attended by his family and friends, where the couple had announced that they were having a girl. During the function, he said that they had found out the sex of the foetus after a scan during their visit to Dubai, as seen in the video.

"Ascertaining and announcing the gender of a child in India is prohibited under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) ACT 1994. Such an action will lead to a decline of the female birth rate besides leading to crimes against women," a release from the health department read.

Hence, a memo has been issued to Irfan for violating the provisions of the said Act. Also, a letter was sent to the Cyber Crime Division asking them to immediately remove the video uploaded by Irfan from social media, it said.

The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, often known as the Prohibition of Sex Selection Act, was passed by the Indian Parliament in 1994. According to the Act, it is forbidden to employ any method to determine a foetus's gender after conception. It is also illegal to advertise services or goods that can be used for this purpose.

"The test to determine the gender was conducted in Dubai, where it is legally permissible. However, it is illegal to do sex determination test and reveal in India, and the notice has been issued as he had posted the video for publicity," said a senior official with the health department.

Following this, Irfan removed both videos from his YouTube channel and sent his apology letter to the state health department. It has reportedly accepted the apology.

The department has also warned that those involved in sex determination tests at scanning centers and hospitals would face strict action.

Irfan rose to fame by posting food reviews in Tamil on YouTube. In May last year, Irfan's SUV ran over a 52-year-old woman while she was crossing the GST Road. She died on the spot. A case had been filed against Irfan’s driver who was behind the wheel of the overspeeding car.

(With inputs from Bureau)