SESSION: 2018-2019

SUBJECT: ENGLISH

TOPIC: FEMALE FETICIDE

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

DR.PRERNA AGARWAL SURBHI SHARMA
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH (BA.LLB) SEM.1 (B)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success of final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and assistance from many people and I am

Extremely fortunate to have got this all along the Completion of my assignment work. I respectfully thank

ASST.PROFESSOR DR. PRERNA AGARWAL for giving me this opportunity to do this assignment work and

Providing me all support and guidance which made me to complete the Assignment In time. I hope the project

Will be knowledgeable and helpful in my Future.

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 SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Project Assignment of English entitled “ FEMALE FETICIDE” Submitted by SURBHI

SHARMA of BA.LLB Semester-I (B) for the partial Fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of BA.LLB in S.S

Jain Subodh Law College, Jaipur embodies the bonafide work done under the supervision of DR. Prerna Agarwal

(Assistant Professor) during academic year 2018-19.

Place: Signature:

Date:

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 INDEX

TOPIC PAGES

INTRODUCTION 5

CAUSES OF FEMALE FETICIDE 6

EFFECTS OF FEMALE FETICIDE 7

FEMALE FETICIDE ACROSS THE WORLD 8-9

SEX RATIO IN THE WORLD 10

FEMALE FETICIDE IN INDIA 11-14

CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE 15

ROLE OF GOVERNMENT 16

ALARMING SITUATION IN HARYANA 17

IDEAS TO PREVENT FEMALE FETICIDE 18

CONCLUSION 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY 20

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 INTRODUCTION
The system of Feticide is a very old phenomenon, and it has recorded millions of sex selection deaths in our
ancient history. It is most cruel and harsh demonstration against female by male dominating society. It is
specifically connected with abortion on the basis of sex selection, with aim to remove female fetus and curb the
population of girl child. Infanticide means killing of girl child after birth due to preference of a male child in the
family. In this way ‘Female Feticide’ and Infanticide is one kind of genocide.

Female feticide is a word we all are very familiar with from the middle school. One of the most common and
simple mechanism of eliminating the girl child is ‘Female Feticide’. It is the act of undermining the sex of the child
in the mother’s womb and if it is found to be a female; to get the same aborted. ‘Feticide’ means the destruction
of fetus at any time prior to birth. ‘Infanticide’ means the unlawful destruction of newly born child and is
regarded as murder in law. ‘Fetus’ means an unborn human from after the third month of pregnancy until birth .

DEFINATION-‘Female Feticide’ is the termination of the life of a fetus in the womb on the grounds that its
sex is female. The term "sex selective abortion" is preferable to the term feticide, since it points to both of the
ethical evils inherent in this practice1.

This illegal practice is prevalent in the whole world today especially the under developed and developing
countries which majorly constitutes to be in Asia. The technological advancement has resulted in easy methods
for determination of the sex of the fetus. The sex of the unborn child is determined by using the technique of
ultrasound and if it happens to be a female fetus, it is aborted through medicine or surgery. It is one of the most
rampant social evils in the world. It is rooted in the patriarchal mindset where boys are preferred over girls for
various irrational reasons, not only in rural but urban areas too.

As we all are aware about the thing that, Fundamental Rights of many women are violated or subject to attack
not because they are not having those rights or they are made to suffer violence, but because, they are the
women. Therefore, the International community has always played active role to protect Human Rights of
woman. In furtherance of this object they always tried to give importance to Human Rights of woman on an
International level, which includes documentation of violation of Human Rights, published in Journal, through
print and electronic media with aim to make a possible effort to prevent the violation against woman. Another
objective of these publicity and documentation is to inform the Government that, they have failed to perform
their duty to protect their own citizen including woman with International criticism.

Both men and women together contribute to the continuity of human generations on earth. Nature designed
both sexes for the perpetuation of the human races. Sex segregation, poverty and the growing problem of
dowries - all these have created an atmosphere where females are often considered on inferior status as
compare to men. The result is a declining child sex ratio in successive census reports. The orthodox mentality and
status problem at the root level of various kinds of crimes in the forms of violence, rape, foeticide, Infanticide,
marginalization, exploitation, cultural imperialism and traditional notion of polyandrous marriages to woman of
our contemporary society.

1
lexicon Webster, Dictionary, Delier Publishing Company, 1986, p. 359
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 CAUSES OF FEMALE FETICIDE
Behind these visible indicators lies large number of social-economic, cultural, legal, moral and technological
reasons.

• Ideological Preference for Boys

The patriarchal society generally shows cultural bias against women. Girls are generally considered liability until
they are married off. Any kind of investment in girl’s education and empowerment is considered as investment
in failed enterprise. Their physical security is added responsibility on the family. Practice of dowry puts extra
burden on the parents and all these results into general preference for son and girl feticide and infanticide.

• Availability of latest technology

This preference combined with focus on family planning, availability of latest technology facilitating sex
identification and abortion, failure in stringent application of PCPNDT act all have resulted into increased cases of
female feticide.

• Socio-economic conditions

Along with this the socio-economic conditions are also the reasons behind this. In economically poor families
there is absence of family planning tools. In such families the discrimination in child care and nutrition leads to
increased cases of female infanticide.

• Absence of women in decision making

Absence of women in decision making circles results into their voices being ignored. Women advice are not
solicited or ignored in families and societies. They are forced to carry on feticide against their choice. At higher
levels in political circles and police & administration these issues are hushed up because of absence of will to
strongly enforce the provisions of the laws.

• Decline in moral and ethical standards

There has been a decline in the moral and ethical standards as individuals and families have failed to consider the
rights of the girl child and the overall benefits that females bring to society, whereas individual or family interests
have been promoted. It is also the violation of Hippocratic Oath by physicians when they do sex selective
abortion.

• Age old dowry system

Dowry is the money, goods and/or property a woman brings into a marriage. It is basically a payment done by
the bride’s family to the groom’s family during marriage. Reasons for dowry include provision of “base funds” for
the husband to start a new family, establish his household and to feed and protect the family.

• Illiteracy

A commonly suggested reason is illiteracy. It is assumed that people are illiterate and not educated, and hence
they commit this heinous act.

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 EFFECTS OF FEMALE FETICIDE
• Female/Women Trafficking: The steep decline in the number of girls makes them scarce for the teaming
number of males eligible for marriage. As a solution to this issue, illegal trafficking of women has become
commonplace in many regions. This is a graver matter than the ideology of mail order brides. Women, often
young girls who’ve just crossed the threshold of puberty, are compelled to marry for a price fixed by the groom to
be. They are usually bought in from neighboring areas, where the number of girls might not be as miniscule as
the host region. Child marriages become a rage and child pregnancies, a devastating consequence. The moment
when a land participates in the trade off of its women population, it is a sure path laid ahead with pitfalls.or
problem is the unequal sex ratio in the world.

• Buying of brides from other states and even countries. Such marriages are not sustainable because of cultural
differences and results into instances of physical, mental and sexual abuse of the bride. In some instances even
the society has fallen to inhumane and illegal practice of polyandry.

• Increase in Rape and Assault: Once women become an endangered species, it is only a matter of time before
the instances of rape, assault and violence become widespread. In the backdrop of fewer available females, the
surviving ones faced with the reality of handling a society driven by a testosterone high. The legal system may
offer protection, but as is the situation today, many cases might not even surface for fear of isolation and
humiliation on the girl’s part.

• Women losing their place in society. Fewer women mean less representation in society, polity and economy.
Along with these family members become more apprehensive of the security of female members and put more
restrictions on them.

• More fragmentation of land as more the number male members more the fragmentation of agriculture land.

• Unequal sex ratio in the world. Alarming situation in under developed Southeast Asia and Middle East Asia.

E.g. - Qatar, India, Bhutan

• Population Decline: With no mothers or wombs to bear any child (male or female), there would be fewer births,
leading to a decline in the country’s population. Though a control in the demographic statistics is currently the
goal of many nations like China and India, a total wipe-out of one sex is not the way to achieve this target.
Science would then have to look up solutions to do away with the swarming number of men, should such a worst
case scenario happen.

• Increasing illiteracy amongst females.

• Prostitution it is the sexual exploitation or abuse of persons for commercial purpose Prostitution is sometimes
defined to be indiscriminate sexual commerce for gain. To satisfy the sexual appetite of men, women are
exploited.

• Biological imbalance of nature.

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 Female Feticide across the World

•CHINA2
In Chinese society, son preference is deeply rooted, including traditionally-held Confucian values which are
strongly patrilineal. The one-child policy that was introduced in 1980 with the goal of slowing down the country‘s
population growth ended up creating huge gender imbalance. According to the Health Ministry of China in 2014,
doctors had performed 336 million abortions and 196 million sterilizations since 1971. According to the
Population Research Institute, a non-profit research group, at least 9,615,875 sex selective abortions had taken
place in China in the years between 2000 and 2014. The yearly average of sex selective abortion is 641,058 or
daily average of 1756.3. As a result of rampant elimination of the girl child, China‘s sex ratio stood at 115.9 boys
for every 100 girls as per census data of 2014.
• Pakistan3
Pakistan has a patriarchal and feudal kinship system where daughters are seen as an economic burden. Only 20
per cent of women are in the labor force which means that most women cannot provide economic support to
their aged parents. Abortion rates are quite high i.e. 29 per 1,000 women (as of 2015), especially in the more
rural provinces of Khyber Pashtunwali Province and Baluchistan .According to the Population Research Institute,
at least 1,280,228 sex selective abortions had taken place in Pakistan in the years between 2000 and 2014. The
yearly average of sex selective abortion is 116,384 or daily average of 318.9. Pakistan is probably the region
where sex selection is the least documented in Asia. There is no birth registration data or SRB data in Census and
Pakistan‘s situation is known only via the sample population surveys conducted in the country.

• South Korea4

South Korea presents a unique exception to the troubling trend of increasingly large sex selection ratios in Asia; it
―was the first country to report exceptionally high sex ratios and has been the first to cut them. But before the
ratio improved in Korea, the male to female birth rate was abysmal. New reproductive technologies and new
mindsets helped to make sex selective abortion prevalent in Korea, particularly during the 1980s. Yet, many of
these new mindsets did not originate in Korea; rather, they were conceived and popularized in the West. In 1990,
South Korea was experiencing a gender imbalance almost as high as China‘s today and the highest in the world at
the time. Yet as of 2007, South Korea had brought its male-female ratio at birth down to a natural level. The
country experienced two decades of exceptional economic growth. Fundamental changes in society included an
increasing desire for small families, urbanization, a greater participation of women in the workforce with better
employment opportunities, and the creation of an old-age pension system that enabled parents to have
retirement savings for the old-age, reducing dependence on male children. These factors contributed to an
increase in the status and value of women. Laws allowing women rights were beneficial, as was ―Love Your
Daughter‖ media campaign. In addition, the health system in the South Korea was able to effectively regulate sex
determination tests. In 2008, the Korean Constitutional Court lifted a 1987 ban on doctors revealing the sex of

2
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/151791/12/12_chapter%206.pdf
3
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/151791/12/12_chapter%206.pdf
4
Population Research Institute, ―Sex-Selective Abortion Around the World‖, https://www.pop.org/content/sexselective-abortion
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the unborn child, citing normal sex ratios as evidence that the country had moved beyond son preference and sex
selection.

• Vietnam5

In Vietnam, gender-based sex selection reportedly gained ground in the last decade. Recent access to sex
determination technology has allowed many couples to adopt sex selection. According to the Population
Research Institute, at least 555,002 sex selective abortions had taken place in Viet Nam in the years between
2000 and 2014. The yearly average of sex selective abortion is 37,000 or daily average of 101.4. The SRB has risen
gradually from 105 in 1979 to 106 in 1989, 107 in 1999, 110 in 2005- 93 to 111.6 in 2007 and 113.8 in 2012.95
The SRB decreased to 112.2 in 2014 as per Housing Survey conducted by the General Statistics Office,
Government of Viet Nam.

• Albania6

Albania has a patriarchal society. ―Traditionally, Albanian families have favored boys over girls for two main
reasons: the inheritance of the family name Son preference, a declining fertility rate, and introduction in 1995 of
prenatal screening technology have resulted in widespread illegal sex-selective abortions in Albania.

• Nigeria7

A study of Igbo custom in Nigeria found that ―The traditional preference for sons is deeply rooted in the
structure of the society.... In Igbo land, when a woman has too many girls or no boy at all, she stands the risk of
being sent back to her father‘s house because the birth of a boy is what is seen as her passport to remaining in
her matrimonial home. This accounts for the reason why most women with only daughters often make several
attempts at getting pregnant so as to have the golden male child, and some unfortunately lose their lives in the
process. Women with first-born daughters tend to have repeated and shortly spaced pregnancies, a behavior
medically known to increase their risk of mortality and morbidity. According to an estimate, about 760,000
abortions occur annually in Nigeria despite the country‘s restrictive abortion law.

• Liechtenstein8

A 2012 report by Directorate-General of External Policies of the European Parliament titled ―Gendercide: The missing women?‖
put the sex ratio at birth (SRB) of Liechtenstein at 126 in 2012 which is by far the highest rate of sex imbalance in the world, way
ahead of China (117.8), Azerbaijan (115.6), and India (110.5).

5
05 UNFPA Asia and Pacific Regional Office, Sex Imbalances at Birth: Current trends, consequences, and policy implications, 2012,
available at
https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pubpdf/Sex%20Imbalances%20at%20Birth.%20PDF%20UNFPA%20APRO%20publication%202
012.pdf
6
UNDP,―National Human Development Report Albania 2005‖, available at http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/
albania_2005_en.pdf 325 Sex-Selective Abortion Trending in Albania, We.News.com, 25 January 2013, available at
http://womensenews.org/2013/01/ sex-selective-abortion-trending-in-Albania/
7
Amadu J. Kaba, ‗Explaining the Rapid Increase in Nigeria‘s Sex Ratio at Birth: Factors and Implications‘, available at
http://www.bioline.org.br/pdf?rh15018
8
Directorate-General of External Policies of the European Parliament, ―Gendercide: The missing women?‖, 2012, available at
http://ecologic.eu/sites/files/project/2013/the_missing_women.pdf
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 SEX RATIO IN THE WORLD9

Analyzing the available statistics provided by “CIA World Fact Book” on child sex ratio at birth, ACHR’s study
ranked the top countries in the world on skewed sex ratio at birth as follows:

1-Liechtenstein 126 males/100 females

2-China 115 males/100 females

3-Armenia 113 males/100 females

4-India 112 males/100 females

5-Azerbaijan 111 males/100 females

6-Vietnam 111 males/100 females

7-Albania 110 males/ 100 females

8-Georgia 108 males/100 females

9-South Korea 107 males/100 females

10-Tunisia 107 males/ 100 females

This data just shoes the main countries but still there are many more countries where the data

Is nearing the numbers of the above given countries. Main areas are middle-east countries, south-Asia

African countries such as Libya, Nigeria, Egypt. The sex ratio s majorly neutral in all the European

Countries and the continent of North America also the islands of Australia and New Zealand.

In the islands of Madagascar, Lakshadweep, phi-phi where majorly tribes reside the sex ratio is

Very unfavorable for women and the cases of mutation and many physical harm to women are

Done just on the name of tribal customs and traditions and being away from the legislature of the

Mainland they do not bind themselves according to the laws and make their own laws.

Drifting towards the poles the population is scarce but remains gender neutral.

9
CIA World Factbook, updated on 6 May 2016, available at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook/geos/ in.html
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Page | 11
 Female feticide in India
Women are murdered all over the world. But in India a most brutal form of killing females takes place regularly,
even before they have the opportunity to be born. Female feticide-the selective abortion of female fetuses-is
killing upwards of one million females in India annually with far-ranging and tragic consequences.

As per the report of Government, it is observed that, more than 10 million of girls have been subjected to ‘Female
Feticide’ and Infanticide by their own parents and family relatives in spite of all the rules and regulations enforced
by Government and other implementation machineries. The United Nation also reported that, near about 2000
girls are illegally aborted in India, every day. Therefore, it’s time to make efforts for giving in reality equal status
to girls with boys or women with men in our family as well as in the society. Almost all the missing woman
belongs to Asian countries, where there is a long history of ‘son preference’. In fact, India historically had a deficit
of woman compared to most other countries. For instance, even in 1901 there were just 972 women to 1000
men. Subsequent census figures indicated that the number had been gradually decreasing until it reached an all-
time low of 927 in 1991 and then rose again marginally to 933 in 2001. To understand the enormity of the
problem, one has to keep in mind that the population of India is around 1 billion. So if there is a shortfall of 70
women to every 1000 men that means by 2001, about 70 million women had gone missing in India alone. In
some areas, the sex ratio of females to males has dropped to less than 8000:1000. Females not only face
inequality in this culture, they are even denied the right to be born. Why do so many families selectively abort
baby daughters? In a word: economics. Aborting female fetuses is both practical and socially acceptable in India.
Female feticide is driven by many factors, but primarily by the prospect of having to pay a dowry to the future
bridegroom of a daughter. Prenatal sex detection technologies have been misused, allowing the selective
abortions of female offspring to proliferate. Legally, however, female feticide is a penal offence. While abortion is
legal in India, it is a crime to abort a pregnancy solely because the fetus is female. Strict laws and penalties are
in place for violators. These laws, however, have not stemmed the tide of this abhorrent practice.

The most gruesome indicator of this was the plummeting child sex ratio. In some of the worst hit areas, the ratio
had declined to less than 800 girls per 1000 boys. In Punjab Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra
the CSR had plummeted by more than 50 points in pain short years. Following table indicate states with lowest
sex ratio as per 2015 census.

State / Union Territory (U.T.) Sex Ratio10

Bihar 916

Haryana 877

Gujrat 918

Uttar Pradesh 908

Rajasthan 926

Following are some examples in most popular state in India where child sex ration tremendously decreasing in

10
http://www.indiaonlinepages.com/population/sex-ratio-of-india.html last visited on 02.05.2015 at 4.00 pm
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recent year-

Delhi: The most shocking situation was observed in the capital city of Delhi. Sophisticated Delhi people with its
large urban educated population, was the city where most girls were going missing. Thousands of girls were going
missing every year and right under the nose of the most powerful politicians and bureaucrats in the country. The
worst height was South Delhi. News from the office of Registrar of births and deaths is not better. Statisticians
and Doctors, there monitoring the trend in Delhi confirmed that the situation had worsened in all the nine Delhi
districts even after the 2001 census figures were published. The capital city in fact now ranked third after
Haryana and Punjab among states having the lowest CSRs.

Maharashtra: As we all know that, Maharashtra State is fastest and developing state in the country, but it is not
at all applicable on the girl child because it’s really dangerous state for the girl child as per the decreasing rate of
girls due to ‘Female Feticide’ in Maharashtra. The current sex ratio of the state is 925 females for every 1000
males. So far it’s concerned to districts, Mumbai; capital of Maharashtra has the lowest sex ratio that is 838
females for every 1000 males. In June 2009 Government surveyed 33 district in Maharashtra and shocking results
come out that, there are 14 district in Maharashtra having a girl sex ratio below 900. It includes Beed at peak of
all, then Jalgaon, Aurangabad and Buldhana.

‘Female Feticide’ in Beed (Maharashtra): Abortion on the basis of sex selection we can call it as Gendercide
because female fetus aborted in this selection procedure. In USA there is a system of planned pregnancy and
knowledge of sex, it means that they already know the sex of the child before it is delivered. But in China and
India ‘Female Feticide’ on the basis of sex selection is rampant. In our Maharashtra state the position is worse,
where our state is at the highest rank in low ratio of female. The lowest rate of female as compare to male shows
the increasing practice of ‘Female Feticide’ in Maharashtra. Now this practice takes horrible guise, when
newspapers and television media disclosed the unbelievable fact of ‘Female Feticide’ in Beed district of
Maharashtra, where aborted female fetus was fed to dogs. It was really shocking to all the persons by hearing the
news that, how it could be possible, that to abort in such quantity of female fetuses on the basis of sex selection
and then there after with an intention to destroy the evidence Doctors disposed female fetus by feeding them to
dogs. This dreadful fact was disclosed by Mrs. Varsha Deshpande Lenient Advocate working with an NGO against
this practice of ‘Female Feticide’ under the name of ‘Lek Laadki Abhiyaan’. She has conducted Sting Operations by
arranging dock in Sudam Munde’s clinic and came out with this shocking result.

Thereafter police arrested him and his wife who was also a Doctor. This issue raises the eyebrows of each and
every person towards one of the trustworthy profession i.e. is medical profession and it influence the mind of
every person that, for the purpose of gaining money, any person including Doctors can do anything without
thinking about the repercussions of that immoral act. This incident can set the law into motion that, to find out
other districts where ‘Female Feticide’ frequently committed but not known to the Government. It’s really
unbelievable after the survey, the shocking result came into the hand of the Government that, it is not only
committed in Beed district but other 56 districts also indulged their hands with this heinous crime. After this
incident every person well versed about ‘Female Feticide’ and how it is frequently committed in Maharashtra.

Mumbai: A couple who has one girl child, they want baby boy second time. To satisfy this purpose they want to
determine the sex of child by using ultra sound Sonography Technique, but this test is banned by the Act.
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Therefore, they have filed public interest litigation against Union of India before Honorable Bombay High Court,
claiming to remove ban on sex determination test. The Union of India in answer clearly stated that, there is no
question of removing ban on sex selection test, because it is as per the provisions of PCPNDT Act as well as by
considering the gravity of offence of ‘Female Feticide’ which is continuously committed by the parents with help
of Doctors. Furthermore, the Union Minister of Health in affidavit filed on behalf of Government specifically
stated that, this Act has enacted by the parliament to check the rising incident of ‘Female Feticide’ and therefore
there is no question of lifting ban on this sex determination test. In that affidavit it is also contended that, the
child sex ratio of 0 to 6 years of age completely adverse against girl child, specifically in states of Punjab,
Rajasthan, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, and Gujrat. Hence in this case the Honorable Bombay High Court held that,
the sex determination test for the baby boy is violating the Right to life of Female Fetus and therefore it is un-
Constitutional.11

Tamil Nadu:12

In Tamil Nadu, Uslampatti area has been declared as lowest sex ratio of female. When the survey conducted by
the Government, it revealed that in this area not only ‘Female Feticide’ but also Infanticide is committed by the
people. Infanticide means killing of child after birth. A voluntary organization namely Society of Integral Rural
Development has conducted survey in Uslampatti area and found that, many Doctors admitted the facts that,
they performed sex selection abortion but on the demand of family members. They also stated that, they
disclosed the sex of the child in the form of ‘XX’; it means fetus is of female. In 1992, State Government being
aware about this fact and situation of increasing rate of ‘Female Feticide’ and Infanticide in State of Tamil Nadu.
Thereafter Government implemented different schemes for protection of female child and to prevent feticide.
Like, it started cradles for unwanted girl child where, they could get free food facility, health facilities and
orphanages also. In 1997 again Government introduced another scheme that, it invests 2000 rupees in every girl
child after born in poor families. Instead of all these things, till today, the situation in Tamil Nadu did not change.
‘Female Feticide’ is rampant over there but one change is there that is Infanticide tends to be committed by the
people. Because, introduction of new technology in the form of ultra sound Sonography to determine sex of
child.

Rajasthan:

Jaipur, a capital of Rajasthan state in which the ‘Female Feticide’ has been rampant as compare to other states in
India. Taking into consideration enhancing rate of ‘Female Feticide’ the Chief Justice of the High Court at
Rajasthan with the consultation of Chief Minister of Rajasthan decided to establish a separate fast-track court to
deal with these matters. Because in last two years in Rajasthan the team of Health Department Government
sealed and raided many Sonography centers, clinics and also filed near about 308 cases of ‘Female Feticide’,
which are highest in all over the country. Instead of commission of highest rate, till 2012 no conviction had been
given in any case of ‘Female Feticide’. This report published by the Government itself. Out of 308 cases only three
of them closed but remaining other cases still pending in court of law without any proceeding. By knowing the
gravity of the offence and circumstances Government have decided to establish fast track court in Rajasthan to
dispose the matters related to ‘Female Feticide’ as quickly as possible. The main purpose was to create deterrent
effect in the mind of public as well as Doctors that, if they are involved in the offence of sex determination, to
detect sex of male or female fetus they will also have punished with imprisonment and their license will have also

11
Vijay Sharma and others v. Union of India, AIR 2008 Bombay 29
12
http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1525/15251090.htm last visited on dated 5 September 2015
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seized by Government. In this way Rajasthan was declared as the most sensitive state of ‘Female Feticide’ and it
was also telecasted in actor Amir Khan’s show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ by Star plus. Thereafter, the actor personally
met with Chief Minister of Rajasthan and requests him to take some serious steps for preventing ‘Female
Feticide’ in Rajasthan. So on the basis of above discussion it is clear that, the ‘Female Feticide’ increasing day by
day because in the states like Rajasthan, Punjab and Maharashtra son preference or superiority of the male child
in a family is still today preserved by the society and ultimately its result into ‘Female Feticide’.13

Punjab:

The native and residents of Punjab state, who founded the green revolution in the last decade, are now famous
for the shocking and disturbing socio-economic condition in near future because of decreasing sex ratio in the
form of 874 girls behind 1000 boys. Son’s preference in Punjab State seems like a social economic and political
status of families. As agricultural status of Punjab, it gives more value to son to protect, preserve and to work in
the agricultural property, which automatically gives low status to woman in their families. By considering the
seriousness of problem of ‘Female Feticide’ and child labor prevalent in state of Punjab, the Chief Justice of
Punjab and Haryana High Court declared year 2007 as a child year and also stated that the state legal services
authority should create maximum awareness amongst the people of Punjab regarding equal status of woman as
well as to arrange a legal aid camp to combat with the peril of ‘Female Feticide’ and Infanticide. One lakh female
fetus aborted every year in state of Punjab as per report of Government.

Therefore, as per national scenario of India and other states in India it is clear that the female Infanticide in Vedic
period turned into the ‘Female Feticide’ in modern period. As the researcher has discussed above, there are
many states like Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Maharashtra those are highly developed States in India
but their female sex ratio is declining day by day. Instead of Government trying their level best by providing
different policies, campaigning to save girl child but everything is vague. Hence the researcher wants to suggest
here that strict implementation of PCPNDT Act may definitely help to curb the menace from the society at large.
As well as if, Government gives the projects in the hand of NSS students of different colleges and NGO’s to
change the mindset of people then also it will help out to deal with this problem of ‘Female Feticide’.

13
7http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Female-feticide-Rajasthan-has-maximum-cases-but-
noconviction/articleshow/13114696.cms
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 Constitutional Perspective
The protection of rights of both men and woman is now a reality, since part III of the Constitution assigns
paramount importance to the Fundamental Right and freedoms. This was not something unusual to expect from
the drafters of the Constitution, who were natives and shared the same blood. Hence, they could have ignored
the protection of right and interest of woman the least, especially when the need was felt to construct a new
political society. Indian woman was, as such, looking forward to forge a real partnership both at home as well as
outside. But, did the drafters of the Constitution really desire to achieve Empowerment of woman? This question
demands attention because the woman has not hitherto achieved much notwithstanding the Constitutional
promise and guarantees assured. It appears that, Indian woman primarily justified accepting the Constitution and
the mechanism drawn by the drafters of the Constitution with regard to Empowerment of woman. It is believed
that the maker of the Constitution was well versed with the culture and scriptural philosophy of the country were
in, inequality bore the social-cultural undertones and sex deter minatory component, which has to be weeded
out for the good and the formulation of the Constitution was the first opportunity to achieve the same without
experiencing much resistance. Needless to mention that the Vedic philosophy stands for the recognition of
human dignity as well as fairness in the partnership of men and woman, be it familiar or other matters. Whether
or not the drafters of the Constitution desire to achieve mathematical equality is a separate issue, still the kind of
strategy they adopted appear to be sufficient to overcome the societal hiatus against woman and thus, break the
barriers on its way to achieve equality irrespective of the sex. This would ensure that woman too would enjoy
equal access to law, education and employment, which have historically been the burning issues and continue to
remain so at the contemporary times. The plain reading of the Constitution’s suggesting of the fact that, the
Constitution does not only designs measures to weed out inequality otherwise rooted in the historical conditions
but also provides for preventing the perpetuation of inequality, so that it does not pass on from one generation
to another in the form of legacy. In order to achieve it, strategy has been formulated to fight discrimination at
various levels so as to improve the whole lot of the people, in general. Article 15(1) does not go beyond this as
Article 15(2) and (3) lay more emphasis on fighting historical inequalities and social handicaps that tackling with
the gender bias.

Gender Justice and the Constitution of India:

In India, male domination with complimentary suppression of woman has been continuing since prehistoric
times. There has been discrimination between the male and female child, between men and women. Women are
considered as good as cattle. Discrimination in matters pertaining to personal status deem powers an individual
from leading a dignified life. The framers of the Constitution were well conscious of the discrimination and
unequal treatment meted out to the fairer sex, from time immemorial. They included certain in general as well at
specific provision for upliftment of the status of woman. They provided equality of status and of opportunities
explicitly at some places and implicitly in all other places on par with men as citizens of India.86 It is true that the
original Constitution of India did not reflect concerns of Gender Justice adequately as expected. It provides
against discrimination on the ground of sex but it did not take note of discrimination that is based on Gender.
Giving woman certain rights in order to compensate them for their reproductive function is not a charity but an
obligation.

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 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
Due to all these causes and implications of female feticide, many laws have been passed from time-to-time to
control this menace. India passed its first abortion-related law in 1971, the so-called Medical Termination of
Pregnancy Act, which made abortion legit in almost all states of the country, but it was particularly made for the
cases of medical risk to the mother and child conceived by rape. The law had also established physicians who
could legally perform the abortion in the said scenarios. But the government had not considered the possibility
of female feticide based on technological advances. Due to this reason, this law proved to be highly ineffective.

During the 1980’s, sex screening technologies in India was easily accessible to the common people. Due to this
reason, a large number of reports started pouring in about the abuse of the sex screening technologies.
Considering this problem, the Government passed the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PNDT) in 1994. This
law was again amended due to various reasons, and it finally became Pre-Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic
Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) (PCPNDT) Act in 2004. Its main goal was prevention and
punishment of prenatal sex screening and female feticide. Many important changes were made in the PCPNDT
Act, 2004. It brought ultrasound and amniocentesis under its ambit. It also led to the empowerment of the
Central Supervisory Board and the formation of State Level Supervisory Board. The rules, regulations, and
punishments are made more stringent.

Despite all these changes, it has been said that the implementation of this act has turned into a farce. It has
been nearly two decades since the law came into force and despite this, not many changes have taken place in
the society. Despite rulings given by the Supreme Court and various High Courts to make the existing law an
impediment, the courts have shown their hesitancy in sending the offenders off to jail. The convicts in many
cases have been let off only by a mere warning by the judge which has led to a mass negative reaction from the
legal fraternity as well as social and academic activists. Lawyers and activists have unanimously demanded
stringent punishment for the guilty while also fixing the accountability of the competent authorities handling the
cases of sex detection.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao have been launched to ensure survival, protection and empowerment of girls by
eliminating the differential in the sex ratio, infant mortality rate and improving their nutritional and education
status. 100 focus districts with low child sex ratio have been selected and the Panchayats have been given the
responsibility for co-coordinating implementation. States like Haryana, which have very low CSR of 830, have
started their own schemes like ‘Aapki Beti Hamari Beti’. Under this scheme the first girl child born in SC or BPL
family will be eligible for Rs. 21000 from state government. Localized initiatives like ‘selfie with daughter’ have
also been launched by Panchayats and thus taking the initiative to ground level. Stringent provisions of POCSO
Act (Prevention of Children from Sexual offences), Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act and the changes in the Criminal Law on the recommendations of Justice Verma Committee aim at
creating a safe and secure environment for females. Provision of better nutrition through ICDS, MDM, Janani
Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram, education through scholarship schemes like Pragati and special girl’s school like
Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas are being implemented for ensuring the better health and empowerment.

Reservation of seats for women in Panchayats, 33% reservation in non-gazette posts in central armed police
forces .Recognition of ground based role models by Ministry of Women and Child Welfare through ‘100 women
initiative’ and emergence of role models like sportsperson Saina Nehwal, women IPS Archana Ramasundaram,
CEOs like Arundhati Bhatacharya are creating an environment of hope for the girls.

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 ALARMING SITUATION IN HARYANA14
Notorious for female feticide, Haryana ranks a poor 31 among Indian States and Union Territories on sex ratio
with just 877 women per 1,000 men. Though no concrete figures are available on the exact number of female
feticide cases, an estimated 37,000 girls are killed every year in the State before they are born. The fact that
Haryana, with just 2.2 per cent of the total children in India, accounts for 4 per cent of the female feticide cases
speaks volumes about the extent of problem.

Though the law prohibits sex-determination and illegal termination of pregnancy, social workers argue that the
situation on the ground has not changed much over the years. “Despite all the laws, the implementation is poor.
It is only in certain cases where the senior officials take keen interest in checking the menace that the situation
has shown some improvement. Like in Jhajjar, the Deputy Commissioner concerned was strict on illegal sex-
determination and took action against even some politically well-connected doctors engaged in the malpractice.
But it is rare,” said 42-year-old Vinod Bala, the woman president of Sarvkhap Panchayat.

Ms. Bala, who has been actively involved in the fight against female feticide, said that a girl child is still
considered a burden and parents want to get rid of her before she was born. “Despite all programs and schemes,
the mind-set of society has not changed much. The rural folk consider girls to be a financial burden. With the
growing number of cases of elopement and inter-caste marriages, people in the villages prefer not to have girls.
In urban areas, the working couples want only one child and mostly prefer a boy.”

“The trend of female feticide emerged around 1995 in Haryana. Its real consequences would be visible in another
decade when those born in 1990s would attain marriageable age. It is an alarming situation which would lead to
disastrous results,” said Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Rakesh Gupta.

True story from Yamuna Nagar –

Priyanka, a BMS doctor from Saharanpur in UP, was caught red-handed when the health department of Yamuna
Nagar raided bungalow no 43 in Jagadhari district's posh Saraswati Colony. A team from the Red Cross Society
also accompanied them.

Priyanka has reportedly been running the clinic, along with her sister Parul, for the last five years. Parul is also a
BMS doctor. According to a cleaner at the clinic, the two doctors perform at least six to seven abortions every
month. And the foetuses, the worker revealed, are later flushed in toilets. s

"I have been working here for the last five to six years. At least six to seven abortions take place here each month.
They are then disposed in toilets," she said.

The police have begun a probe into the matter to find out more details. "There is a lady doctor who performs the
abortions. A team of doctors led the raid and we came here because of that. A legal enquiry will now follow. This
is in a residential area and you can't tell by looking at it that it's a hospital. We will investigate the matter," said
Rajiv Miglani, the SHO of Yamuna Nagar.

The arrested doctor will be produced in a court later today. She claims she had to abort the child because her
patient was in a very critical condition.
14
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/no-relief-from-female-foeticide-in-
haryana/article5765814.ece

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 1 COMMENT

The woman who was allegedly getting her girl child aborted has refused to speak on camera.

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 IDEAS TO PREVENT FEMALE FOETICIDE
- Free education for women up to college and even post graduate education in government run institutions
(Similar plans are being implemented in many states in India)

- Males should stand up to their own moms and dads when they start chirping about unwanted female children.

- Create a feminine movement so that women feel a sisterhood towards each other and stand up for a woman in
a neighboring house rather than turn a blind eye.

- Refuse marriage of women into households or be very careful of families that have only male children or a very
high percentage of males. Chances are high that they did you know what. Again, a few innocents will be in
needless trouble, but sometimes poisonous and normal snakes look alike and it is better to get out a stick and
protect your own daughters and sisters.

- Do not provide any government incentives to families that have only males. Again the bad snake good snake
logic applies. But that is OK. Consider it payback for all the dead female children.

- Provide extra incentives for families that have more than one girl child. This will help correct the gender balance
in a few years.

-Moral and sex education should be made compulsory at school and college level in order to prevent crime
against women in general and female children in particular.

- Pornographic literature and films depicting crime, sex and violence should be banned for preventing sexual
offences against the female child.

-The social atfitudes towards the girl child should be changed to build a healthy society.

-The Ccirning capacity of women should be improved and their economic status should be raised. This will
automatically lead to the upliftment of the girl child.

-Efforts should be made through education and other measures to change the attitude of the community that
carries the centuries old bias against the girl child, believing that the girl child is an expense, a waste and a
burden.

- A national debate needs to be initiated to create the necessary social climate in favour of the girl child on a
warfooting.

-Child marriages should be prevented with greater responsibility. Persons who supply information to authorities
about child marriages, foeticide, infanticide or other atrocities should be rewarded so that many more will come
forward to give such information.

-The substantial contribution made by the girl child in the household and national economy should be widely
acknowledged.

-Those women who have proved their ability in different spheres of life should be given publicity through media
and through text books. This will help the girls to build up their confidence in themselves and have new role
models.

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 CONCLUSION

Female feticide is one of the biggest problem that the world is facing today. Women are deprived of their basic
human right to take birth and if taken then suffer whole Life in suppression. Murdered, tortured and even beaten
to death by the male suppressors all around the globe. No one today seems to notice the brutal consequences of
female feticide which might result in the doom of human kind. We are developing technology and let it rule our
lives and now we are trying to snatch away someone’s right to birth by using it as a weapon against girl child.
Government of all countries are playing their roles but this situation demands more fast and rapid steps. The
world sex ratio is falling rapidly and monopoly of male is hailing all around. Women are forced to abort and
conceive child against their will resulting in their Death due to weakness. Days are not so far, when there may be
emergence of the situation where brides will not be available for the marriage of the sons to maintain lineage
and continue the human race of even those people who believe on long standing tradition of son preference.
Therefore it is felt that the mind sets of the people should be changed right from now towards the importance of
the girl child in the family. There is an urgent need to alter the demographic composition of world population and

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to tackle this brutal form of violence against women. Situation of women is more alarming in under developed
countries where they are clear victims of oppression by male of the society. In many such countries old culture
traditions, customs are the major source for women to hide behind the curtains. Women doing any task are
looked down upon and are under constant fear of the consequences they might suffer just to let go of the
tradition. Countries such as Qatar, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nepal with are religiously bound countries also takes away
the freedom of women. There are endless number of cases of women being tormented on various grounds and
on many baseless reasons. From the medieval time the oppression of women started and it continues till date.
Today the situation demands urgent action against the barbaric situation of women who awaits their freedom
birth , speech , expression and most importantly freedom to live a carefree life and walking shoulder to shoulder
to men.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

WEB REFERENCES-
• www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

• brainly.in

• www.indiacelebrating.com

• www.indiatoday.in

• www.thehindu.com

•www.iasscore.com

•www.allreserchjournal.com

•www.femalefeticideinindia.wordpress.com

•www.wikipedia.org

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