Kriti Foundation | Page 26

Female Foeticide: A Brutal Crime Dr. S. S. Ghonkrokta, IAS Director (Enforcement) Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) embryos or foetuses are selectively eliminated after pre-natal sex determination, thus eliminating girl child even before they are born. It is equally heinous, if not more than the female infanticide, which is killing a baby girl after her birth. Every year, half a million girl children are being killed and prevented from being born. The menace of skewed sex ratio is evident by comparing the Census figures. In 1991, the figure was 947 girls to 1000 boys, whereas in 2001, it had fallen to 933 girls for 1000 boys and in 2011, it is 940 girls for 1000 boys. Surprisingly, this phenomenon is more pronounced in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. There is a disturbing evidence that foeticide trend is prevalent more in urban areas rather than rural areas and this brutal crime is committed mostly by educated class. In fact, poor people do not have the resources to have sex determination done. Nature’s equilibrium can be permanently destroyed, if this decline is not checked. I ndia is predominantly a patriarchal society where males are given superiority and are considered a status sym bol of the family whereas women are given secondary status. Though, women are now at par with men but men are still considered the bread-winner in the family. An exorbitant dowry demand is one of the main reasons for female infanticide. The beliefs that son will provide happy and secured life to parents during their old age, perform last rites and inherit the property, have led to the strong male preference and increased female foeticide. The Constitution of India provides for the Right to equality under Article 14 and Right to live with dignity under Article 21. But when it comes to female, both these rights are being violated in the form of female foeticide. Though we are technologically advancing, yet we are still lagging behind in our thinking. With the development of technology for the pre-natal determination of sex of the child, infanticide has been replaced by female foeticide. One of the most nefarious crimes, female foeticide, on this planet is committed where female This brutal crime is helped by methods like amniocentesis, chorionic villus biopsy and ultrasonography. Amniocente19