Save the Girl Child
Dr. Purnima Wanchoo
I
n a land called ‘Mother India’ where Goddesses are wor
shipped, exists a paradox – rampant female foeticide.
One should remember that the female foetus when born
will bestow happiness and prosperity in the house like the
symbolic Goddess Laxmi.
In old days, the practice of female infanticide was prevalent, but not rampant, as only infanticide was possible and
was done by a few cruel people who had perhaps no ethics
in their life.
With the advancement of science and technology and the
advent of ultrasound machines and other medical technologies, the ultrasonologist could see the sex of the foetus in
the utero. This facility along with the wish for a male child
were made use of in getting the pre-natal sex detection
done. If the pre-natal sex determination test confirms that
it is a female foetus, most people get rid of that by means
of MTP (medical termination of pregnancy). While both
female foeticide and female infanticide are aimed at not
having a female child, yet in female foeticide, human conscience is not much affected as in female infanticide. The
desire of having a male child of the parents and the lure of
earning easy money by the medical professionals made
this unethical practice more popular.
The Act provides for punishment to all the persons seeking
/ doing / aiding or compelling the person for sex selection
/ detection. The punishment in addition to fine includes
imprisonment. Had we been listened to our inner conscience and kept ourselves away from this ghastly Act,
there would not have a need for the enactment of PNDT
Act.
The strict enforcement of law may even threaten to those
ethically practicing clean doctors/professionals who are a
little careless in keeping proper records, etc. Hence, all
should be careful on the record maintenance part and stay
away from facilitating sex detection and MTP.
The MTP Act in India does not allow selective abortion of
female foetus, yet the same is done by gynaecologists on
the request of families of the pregnant women. The
gynaecologist should insist on the indication for MTP specially the second trimester and try to counsel the patient
and the family against the ill effects of repeated abortion,
more so, the risk of second trimester abortion.
To stop female foeticide and infanticide, enforcement of law
is a dire need. However, more important is raising the
social status of females which can be easily done by the
religious, political and social leaders. Some of the myths
that are prevalent like a son would light the pyre for attaining salvation and the social ills like dowry should be removed from society. Domestic violence should also be
stopped and equal opportunities to be given to girls in all
fields, es X