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Abstract
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In spite of the legal provisions to prevent female infanticide and foetieide, it continues to occur in many parts of the country. While infanticide was first known to be recorded in British rule, in some States like Tamil Nadu, it is essentially a post-Independence occurrence. Data from Bihar shows that it started among the high castes and now cuts across all castes and classes. In Tamil Nadu also, there are indications that the practice cuts across social groups, and also, that there has been a core area of occurrence, from where it is slowly spreading to the surrounding areas.
Female infanticide is supported by sanctions and pressures from the family. It is fueled by the evil of the dowry system, which places demands on the girl's family. Sometimes, mothers kill their female babies to save them from abuse and violence later in life. Birth order also is an important factor-after two girls are born, the next girl is at high risk, according to a study from Tamil Nadu. It is believed also that killing a girl child increases the probability of a male child born in the family. Female infanticide is reported to occur also due to a lack of scanning centres, as an alternative to foetieide. Another factor implicated infanticide is the decline in the status of women due to the modernisation of agriculture. The new agricultural technology makes the traditional agricultural knowledge of women redundant, and due to the constraints on their free movement in the public space, it is the men who visit government offices to get loans and information on new varieties of seeds, pesticides and so on. In this context, women become liabilities and dowry becomes important. A change in the status of women for the worse in the wake of the modernisation of agriculture has been reported from Madurai district of Tamil Nadu, where there is a high incidence of female infanticide.
Female infanticide and foeticide need to be dealt with by mobilising people to get together and work against this social evil and bring about changes in the society.
Language: en |