Wisconsin Man Who Tried to Force Girlfriend to Have Abortion Still at Large
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
January 1, 2009
Appleton, WI (LifeNews.com) — The Wisconsin man who nearly forced his girlfriend to have an abortion and fled the country after he was charged with the act is still on the lam. Manish Patel appears to have fled the country back to his native India after posting $750,000 in bond that he raised from friends, family and businesses associates.
He is accused of obtaining the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug from India and putting it in the drink of his girlfriend, Darshana Patel, who is not related to him.
Darshana never drank the concoction but turned it over to authorities after suspecting foul play. Tests revealed the presence of the mifepristone abortion drug.
Criminal charges in connection with the case will stay open until he returns or is extradited back to the United States to face trial. He has been charged with attempted first-degree homicide of an unborn child, six other felonies and two misdemeanors.
Authorities in the case say they hope they will be able to find Patel in India and get local officials to extradite him to the U.S. for prosecution.
The charges partly come under a state law pro-life advocates pushed for to provide protection and justice for pregnant women and their unborn children when they are victims of attack.
Wisconsin’s Fetal Homicide Law was enacted in 1998.
The law recognizes unborn children as separate victims when they are killed or injured as the result of violence directed toward the unborn child’s mother or the unborn child by a third party. The law applies regardless of the gestational age of the unborn child.
In July, Outagamie County Circuit Judge John Des Jardins agreed to give Darshana $6,200 of the bond money Patel posted but held off on providing other funds because of further paperwork needed to make the rest of the expenses part of the court record.
Darshana’s attorney, former state attorney general Peg Lautenschlager, said the requirements put in place by the court make it so Darshana will not be able to seek any more restitution, even though she’d had to take extra security measures to protect herself with Manish Patel at large.
According to the Appleton Crescent, Darshana told the court during this latest hearing that Manish Patel ruined her financially.
“This was an abusive relationship for 10 years,” she said. “He used all my money for his businesses. When we met he was working at the Northern Inn as a clerk.”
Lautenschlager said the kind of losses Darshana incurred are hard to quantify in a way that satisfies the court’s guidelines and the newspaper indicated Darshana complained during the hearing.
"I was obligated to pay to save my credit and now all this restitution is going towards the county,” she said.
As a result, Outagamie County will keep the $664,811 that remains of the bond after some of Manish’s relatives who put up the bond money received reimbursements as well.
In January, Judge Jardins ruled Manish Patel has given up the rights associated with the bail money.
The abortion drug has been responsible for killing 14 women worldwide and injuring another 1,100 in the United States alone.
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