Missing... : mapping the adverse child sex ratio in India / Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner (India), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, United Nations Population Fund (India).

Date:
2007
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Missing... : mapping the adverse child sex ratio in India / Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner (India), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, United Nations Population Fund (India). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    There's no tradition of having a girl ch Id... Ranu, mother of one son, killed her first two children by throttling them within a day of their birth. Both the babies were girls. Ranu hardly went to school. Married at the age of 18, she gave birth to her first child at the age of 20. She became pregnant 7 times. Two sons died due to illness, two pregnancies were terminated as the foetuses were female, and two infants were killed. One child, a boy, is alive. Ranu wants another son. She says clearly and firmly that she will kill her other children if they are girls, because she hardly has any money to give them at the time of their wedding. Ranu's husband, Mukhtar, is a serviceman earning between Rs. 2000-3000 per month. He seems to be indifferent towards the killing of their daughters. Neither Ranu nor her family members express sorrow on the death of the baby girls as they consider a girl child a 'trouble maker'. Ranu explains, The practice of elimination of females continues in some districts of Rajasthan including our village. The girl child is killed by putting a sand bag on her face or by throttling her. It is not a rare phenomenon. It happens without any hindrance... Source: UNFPA supported study on 'Adverse Sex Ratio in Rajasthan Submitted on behalf of Women's Resource Centre, Jaipur By Indian institute for Rural Development, Jaipur, Rajasthan At what cost... Mr. and Mrs. Ravi have 3 children. Their eldest daughter is 23 years old, a second daughter is 21, and a son is 10. Before delivering their son, Mrs. Ravi undertook 9 sex determination tests and had 8 pregnancies medically terminated. She died two days after giving birth to their son. Her doctor had advised her not to get pregnant, as it could pose a threat to her life. Mr. Ravi is a senior executive in a multi-national company and the late Mrs. Ravi was a teacher in a public school. Source: UNFPA supported study on Infanticide in Rajasthan - Causes and Practices Submitted on behalf of Women's Resource Centre, Jaipur By VIHAAN, Society for Child Development in Rajasthan