Manishkumar Patel

I think how one reacts to this story has everything to do with when one believes life begins.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Two weeks after a 39-year-old pregnant Kaukauna woman watched her boyfriend frantically mix something in an ice cream smoothie and give it to her, she miscarried.

Suspicious of her boyfriend's actions, Darshana G. Patel didn't drink the smoothie, but she had consumed other food and drinks he had been preparing for her since she announced her pregnancy. Now, thinking her boyfriend might have had something to do with this miscarriage and a miscarriage she suffered last year, she had the smoothie tested and contacted Outagamie County sheriff's detectives.

A lab test showed the drink was laced with RU-486, also known as the abortion pill because it can induce miscarriages. After a search of Manishkumar M. Patel's home in Kaukauna found more RU-486 tablets, the well-to-do gas station and convenience store owner was charged Thursday with attempted first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child and eight other charges. Darshana Patel and Manishkumar Patel are not related.

In what could be one of the first cases of its kind, Manishkumar Patel, the father of her 3-year-old son, is charged with trying to get rid of her fetus by slipping the abortion drug into her food and drinks, authorities say.

Manishkumar Patel is being held in the Outagamie County Jail after Court Commissioner Brian Figy, who called the accusations "devious, diabolical and deceiving," set bail at $750,000 and ordered him to surrender his passport. A preliminary hearing was set for Monday.

According to the criminal complaint, Manishkumar Patel, 34, told detectives that he contacted someone in India, where he lived until he immigrated to Wisconsin in 1999, about how to end a pregnancy. The person suggested the RU-486 pills, which Patel said he had shipped to him from India, where the drug is less restricted than in the United States, the complaint says.

Patel is married to another woman, but he has had a relationship with Darshana Patel at various times since 2001. Both are from India and share a common cultural background. Manishkumar Patel told detectives he was confident the fetus his girlfriend miscarried Sept. 30 was his and that having children was her idea, the complaint says.

What a bizarre relationship!

Patel is married but Darshana Patel doesn't seem to have a problem with that.

She's had a relationship with Patel "at various times since 2001."

This sentence from the article stands out: "Both are from India and share a common cultural background."

What is that supposed to mean?

Does that common cultural background include adultery?

Their shared homeland and cultural background are irrelevant to the crimes allegedly committed by Patel.

He told investigators he "didn't need more babies" and said "I didn't want it" when detectives asked him about having another child with his girlfriend, the complaint says.

In arguing for a high cash bail, Assistant District Attorney Mark Schroeder said Manishkumar Patel has a green card to live and work in the United States, but he would be a risk to flee the country. Patel, who owns 14 gas stations, a hotel and other businesses in Wisconsin, estimated his net worth at $400,000, Schroeder said.

This guy is a successful businessman, quite a tycoon.

I do question the wording that Patel "owns" all those gas stations, a hotel, and other businesses. He must carry a lot of debt. If he owned those businesses outright he'd have to be worth more than $400,000. Still, he's not a bum.

When Patel learned his girlfriend was pregnant, he moved in with her and made her meals and tea, said Outagamie County Sheriff's Sgt. Gary Shortess.

"That was the only time he seemed interested in her, when he thought she was pregnant," Shortess said.

Obviously, Patel wasn't only interested in her girlfriend when he thought she was pregnant. He was interested enough to get her pregnant.

Shortess and sheriff's Sgt. Ryan Carpenter described Manishkumar Patel as manipulative and controlling of Darshana Patel, who bought the home her boyfriend was living in with his wife. Darshana Patel, who is a family physician, also purchased vehicles for Manishkumar Patel.

Why did Darshana Patel buy a home and cars for Patel?

The woman is a doctor! I guess professionals aren't necessarily too bright.

...In addition to attempted first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child, Manishkumar Patel was charged Thursday with second-degree reckless endangerment, placing foreign objects in food, delivery and possession of prescription drugs, stalking, burglary and possession of burglary tools, all felonies, and two misdemeanor counts of violating a restraining order that his girlfriend obtained against him.

Schroeder said attempted homicide charges were filed, rather than homicide, because the current evidence supports that charge. The case is ongoing, and more charges could be filed if additional evidence is found, he said. During Thursday's court hearing, Patel sat next to his attorney and held up his hands to partially shield his face from news cameras.

Defense attorney Thomas Zoesch said Patel denies all of the charges.

Darshana Patel became pregnant in August and told authorities Manishkumar Patel promised he would commit to her and they could live anywhere they wanted, the complaint says. She said he became attentive after learning she was pregnant and occasionally made meals for her at her home. On Sept. 17, she and Patel, with their son, went to dinner and stopped at an ice cream shop in Appleton for dessert.

According to the complaint, while she stayed in the car, Manishkumar Patel went to buy her a smoothie. She said she saw him through the window of the store, splitting the smoothie into two cups and stirring one cup frantically before giving it to her. She said she had an upset stomach and couldn't drink it, and when their son asked to drink it, Patel told him he could not, the complaint says.

The woman later looked in the cup and found powder in the smoothie, the complaint says. She took it to her office, refrigerated it and bought an identical one to put in her refrigerator. She noticed Patel later removed that smoothie from her refrigerator, she thinks, because he thought it was the smoothie he had given her, the complaint says.

On Sept. 30, the woman miscarried. A week later, she sent samples of the smoothie to a California lab, which confirmed the smoothie tested positive for mifepristone, or RU-486, the complaint says. She went to authorities Nov. 1, and more tests were done, which led to Thursday's charges.

What a weird case!

It's like a bad screenplay.

This case does highlight that weird thing about abortion.

Killing a baby by terminating a pregnancy is perfectly legal and considered by many to be socially acceptable. If the mother wants her baby dead, she can end her pregnancy, whether by RU-486 or through other methods.

But when another person succeeds in killing or attempts to kill an unborn child, then it's criminal.

It's not homicide when the mother kills her baby. It is homicide when someone else does, other than a doctor, of course.

Defining whether aborting a child is a crime or a choice hinges on whether the mother willingly ends the child's life.

Either way, the baby is dead and intentionally put to death.

The moral inconsistencies are irreconcilable.