CRIME: Man accused in abortion pill case disappears

A follow-up on an unusual crime story. We wrote in December about Manishkumar M. Patel (aka Manish Patel), a 34-year-old married man in Wisconsin, who was charged with secretly feeding his mistress an "abortion cocktail," causing her to abort the fetus (seven felonies resulted). A bond for $750,000 bond was put up for him by friends and family (not sure if his wife contributed). And, then, on Dec. 27, he didn't show up for an appointment with the authorities and is presumed to have fled to India, with his wife. The mistress, who is a physician and has a 3-year-old with Patel, is now trying to get some of that bond money. Among the things she told the cops: he was so abusive that she once leapt from a moving vehicle to escape him).

Below is a guest post by Jyoti Gupta, a media studies student at the New School in New York. Post your comments below.
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For those of us who are used to watching crime television, this news story is a total bummer. It's masterminded with the shrewdness of a two-year-old; interrogated with the diplomacy of a political neophyte; and put to trial by, er, the court. The result: victory of evil over good. Minus the adrenalin.

Isn't it a bit much to swallow, that Manish Patel admitted the aborted baby was his and he didn't want it? He also admitted inquiring about the pills, ordering them and giving Darshana "one pill." This looks like enough evidence to charge him with 99½ years of prison time and a $92,000 fine. But then, how did he put up a bond and vanish?

And now, after he has happily fled the scene, his lawyers Zoesch and Priebe are trying to wash their hands off the case. But the fact remains that the system could not bring him to a timely trial and could not ensure justice.

For me, this is at least as much about the woman who tolerated such aberrant behavior for six years and let things spiral out of control, as it is about anything else. After all, didn't her meandering faith, but endless love, contribute to this inconceivable outcome?

As for finding the real criminal, this story will have to wait a while before that happens and results in a quiet closure for the rest of us.

- Jyoti Gupta

Post your comments below.

Comments

[Santosh]

Manish Patel is apparently in hiding in India.
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=7608900