Krishna Kunwar lives in fear,she is scared her food may be poisined she is afraid to sleep at night she suspect her parents will kill her.
Female infanticide of the past refined and honed to a fine skill in this modern guise.There are several reasons why Indians favor boys. Traditionally; the son and heir is the focus of an Indian family's pride, and the cost of a dowry for daughters which can include a house for the newlyweds and cars, holidays and any number of TVs, DVD players and electric rice-cookers for the groom's family can be excruciating. Noted in The Lancet that because of the cost of dowry and weddings, daughters in India were a "liability."Also, there's a simple economic imperative: in what is still a fairly male-dominated society, boys earn more.
In the global scenario India is becoming a force to reckon with and we are very proud of this fact. But there are some home truths that we are unaware of or are turning a deaf year to them,female infanticide is one .Female infanticide is a deliberate and intentional act of killing a female child within one year of its birth either directly by using poisonous organic and inorganic chemicals or indirectly by deliberate neglect to feed the infant by either one of the parents or other family members. On the other hand female feticide is the termination of the life of a foetus within the womb on the grounds that its sex is female and is also known as sex selective abortion.
A 2005 study estimated that over 90 million females were "missing" from the expected population in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea and Taiwan alone, and suggested that sex-selective abortion plays a role in this deficit.out of the 15,914 abortions performed during 1984-85 almost 100 per cent were those of girl fetuses. Similarly, a survey report of women’s centre in Mumbai found that out of 8,000 fetuses aborted in six city hospitals 7,999 fetuses were of girls. It has also been reported that about 4,000 female babies are aborted in Tamil Nadu every year. India's 2011 census shows a serious decline in the number of girls under the age of seven - activists fear eight million female fetuses may have been aborted between 2001 and 2011.
According to unofficial estimates, nearly 2500 cases of female foeticide or female infanticide take place in the state of Rajasthan everyday and it does seem that an apathetic government is standing by and watching the story of this silent genocide. Jaisalmer district has a sharply skewed sex ratio of 869 girls per 1000 boys. It is a belt notorious for killing its daughters. Yet in the history of the district, an FIR was only lodged for the first time in April this year(2011), while the government continues to look the other way as this mass murder on a scale unseen in any other district in the country continues.
Female infanticide of the past refined and honed to a fine skill in this modern guise.There are several reasons why Indians favor boys. Traditionally; the son and heir is the focus of an Indian family's pride, and the cost of a dowry for daughters which can include a house for the newlyweds and cars, holidays and any number of TVs, DVD players and electric rice-cookers for the groom's family can be excruciating. Noted in The Lancet that because of the cost of dowry and weddings, daughters in India were a "liability."Also, there's a simple economic imperative: in what is still a fairly male-dominated society, boys earn more.
In the global scenario India is becoming a force to reckon with and we are very proud of this fact. But there are some home truths that we are unaware of or are turning a deaf year to them,female infanticide is one .Female infanticide is a deliberate and intentional act of killing a female child within one year of its birth either directly by using poisonous organic and inorganic chemicals or indirectly by deliberate neglect to feed the infant by either one of the parents or other family members. On the other hand female feticide is the termination of the life of a foetus within the womb on the grounds that its sex is female and is also known as sex selective abortion.
A 2005 study estimated that over 90 million females were "missing" from the expected population in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, South Korea and Taiwan alone, and suggested that sex-selective abortion plays a role in this deficit.out of the 15,914 abortions performed during 1984-85 almost 100 per cent were those of girl fetuses. Similarly, a survey report of women’s centre in Mumbai found that out of 8,000 fetuses aborted in six city hospitals 7,999 fetuses were of girls. It has also been reported that about 4,000 female babies are aborted in Tamil Nadu every year. India's 2011 census shows a serious decline in the number of girls under the age of seven - activists fear eight million female fetuses may have been aborted between 2001 and 2011.
According to unofficial estimates, nearly 2500 cases of female foeticide or female infanticide take place in the state of Rajasthan everyday and it does seem that an apathetic government is standing by and watching the story of this silent genocide. Jaisalmer district has a sharply skewed sex ratio of 869 girls per 1000 boys. It is a belt notorious for killing its daughters. Yet in the history of the district, an FIR was only lodged for the first time in April this year(2011), while the government continues to look the other way as this mass murder on a scale unseen in any other district in the country continues.
An image that stood out in the crowd was the participation of a number of traditional women in the protest, who made a rare appearance without their husbands to fearlessly raise banners against female infanticide, and made their voices heard from under their veil. Krishna Kanwar, wrapped in a traditional red ghaghra and veil, was one of them. “I was forced to kill my girl child a few years ago, and it was time I came out to protest against this crime that many others like me are forced to commit everyday,” she says with quiet strength, clutching her five-year-old son close to her. Is there finally a whiff of change, and can Krishna sleep peacefully at night?
