Mothers Fight Against Sex
Selective Abortions
Dr. Mitu Khurana
I
, Mitu Khurana, a paediatrician and mother of
twin girls, would like to share my experiences in
saving my girls from being killed by my husband
and in-laws while they were in my womb and subsequently after their birth.
I got married to Dr Kamal Khurana in November
2004. Initially, there was a lot of dowry harassment.
In January 2005, I became pregnant. A trans-vaginal ultrasound conducted in the sixth week of pregnancy showed that I was carrying twins. Then my
mother-in-law started demanding that I undergo a
sex determination test. I was even tortured to get it
done. My husband and in-laws would deny me food
and water and fight with me every day to undergo
the sex determination tests. I, with the full support
from my parents, tried resisting it. So, my in-laws
and husband got it done by deception. Knowing that I was
allergic to eggs, they fed me cake made with eggs, all the
while assuring me it was eggless. I developed allergic
manifestations – stomachache, loose motions and vomiting. The whole night I was left alone. The next morning, my
husband and mother-in-law took me to a hospital, which
was not the one from which I had got my ante-natal tests.
I was admitted to the labour room. The gynaecologist advised kidney, ureter, bladder ultrasound, but the radiologist
conducted a foetal ultrasound and asked me to get up and
go. I pointed out to him, that the gynaecologist had ordered
a K.U.B. So then the radiologist again asked me to lie down
and did the K.U.B examination.
night at this stage of pregnancy, he said “is ghar se kisi
cheez ko haath lagaya to thapar parega (if you take anything in this house, I will slap you)”. My father-in-law intervened and asked my husband to let me stay the night, and
in the morning I could be sent to my parents.
My mother-in-law even told me that my two daughters
would be a big burden on the family and I should get them
aborted. If not both, she said get at least one aborted.
When I refused, she said at least give one of them for
adoption.
On 17 May 2005, after I was subjected to a lot of verbal
abuse, I started bleeding at night and there was danger of
abortion. I was not even allowed to call up my parents for
medical help. I survived the night and managed to call my
father in the morning. After much persuasion by my father,
my husband agreed to take me to the nursing home. But he
drove rashly from Rohini to the nursing home in Janakpuri.
After three incidents, whereby they tried to compel me to
abort and misbehaved with me, my father took me to his
house.
After this incident my husband and in-laws started demanding that I get an M.T.P. My mother-in-law asked me
many times to get at least get one child killed in-utero. I was
kept without food and water. My husband who began ignoring me even turned me out of the house at 10 o’clock one
night and asked me to go to my father’s place. He said “ja
apne baap ke ghar ja.” When I asked him to let me take my
mobile and car keys as I did not want to be stranded at
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