A Roma woman has claimed that she was sterilised without her consent.
Monika Bikárová told Sme daily that since the 1986 caesarean section birth of her second child Gelnica hospital she has been unable to conceive even though she and her husband wanted to have another baby.
"I started to get suspicious after ten years," Bikárová said. "I had repeated ovary inflammation and was hospitalized eight times." In 1999 a doctor asked her before an operation if she knew she had been sterilized.
Bikárová filed charges against the Gelnica hospital claiming damages of Sk400,000 ($8,300).
The hospital's lawyer has refused to comment on the case until the court pronounced its final verdict. However he said the "value of the materials which should prove alleged illegal sterilisation of Roma women is zero. The same applies to statements made by Bikárová."
He added that the whole case had been politicized and served only as means for some parties to gain political capital.
Compiled by Spectator staff from press reports
