Indian father accused of killing baby 'for being a girl'

[seabeyond]

"After my delivery my husband had come to see me and the baby. He said, 'It is a girl, why did you give birth to a girl?'" He wanted a boy, an heir. Girls were too expensive, he said. A couple of days after giving birth, Banu says her husband gave an ultimatum. "For her wedding we will require a hundred thousand rupees (about US$1,800 dollars) for all the expense. If you can get that amount from your mother, then keep her, but if you can't, then kill her," Banu recalled her husband as saying. She didn't believe he meant it and was sure he would change his mind once he held his soft, bright-eyed baby girl.


Three months later, her baby is dead, and her husband is under arrest, accused of beating the baby to death. Police say he confessed to the killing. This is by no means the first case of its kind in India. Attitudes, traditions, and economics have come together to make being a girl a dangerous prospect in the country, doctors say. Most of the time girls are disposed of long before they are born. How? Sex-selective abortions.

India has a growing gender gap: The 2011 census showed that for every 1,000 boys six years or younger there were only 914 girls. It is the lowest child sex ratio since India's independence in 1947. The United Nations has said India is the most dangerous place to be a girl. Dr. Anand Krishnan at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), who has studied the gender gap for years, agrees. "Yes, largely this is from the point of view of mortality statistics for girls versus boys," Krishnan told CNN.

*

CNN visited a village in Haryana state with one of the worst ratios of boys to girls, according to the Indian government. A campaign is under way to change villagers' minds about girls. Tiny placards above the doors of several homes say in Hindi: "If you get rid of your girls, where will you find your daughter-in-laws?" A teenage boy wore a T-shirt that said, "Save our girls." Nonetheless, there were young boys everywhere and only a few young girls. Villagers only affirmed why there appeared to be an imbalance. "Girls are mostly aborted here. The people want more boys. There is a shortage of girls," Chandravati said without hesitation. The villager was taking care of her neighbor's newborn baby girl. She cooed at the baby while blowing cigarette smoke into its tiny little face, oblivious to the dangers second-hand smoke could pose. She told us the poorest people don't have the money to abort, so they are forced to keep girls, but those who can afford an ultrasound and abortion get rid of female fetuses. "So much money is required to get them married. Where will the money come from?" she said. "Everything is so expensive these days.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/14/world/asia/india-female-infanticide/index.html?hpt=hp_bn2

[WingDinger]

1. Be careful, that is a Rethug meme.

They dredge up two examples of those here that use ultrasound to sex the baby, then abort if not a boy. This, to call pro choice promoters monsters.

[seabeyond]

2. it is also a reality in a lot of countries.

am i wrong? china has a real issue with this. they are gonna have to import women for the men to marry.

[WingDinger]

3. Yes, you are right, but that also is a Sharia type scare tactic.

Those Furriners bringing their culture here, what with honor killings and such. Just sayin, be careful.

Of course it's unconscionable to abort on proof of sex. And the ideas that would prompt that.

Oh, and they will not import women. Historically, starting in earliest biblical accounts, they kill all the men, and take their women and cattle. That is how MAN usually corrects the lack of marriageable women.

[seabeyond]

4. , they kill all the men

now see, there is a point there. that is interesting. will be interesting to see how they resolve this, but yes, this is how man resolves issues.

[bananas]

5. Nobody cares about reality anymore, it's all ideology and framing.

These are atheist babies being murdered.

[seabeyond]

6. hm... i prefer truth, whatever it may be, wherever it may sit. nt

[demosincebirth]

7. You can't just change a culture like this. You have to force change by strict enforcement of laws

[Violet_Crumble]

9. I had a friend who was born in India...

She grew up here, but she'd had all the customs and stuff taught to her by her parents. She wouldn't look men in the eye, but would get pissed off at me when I pointed out how subservient that came across as, and she was pushed into an arranged marriage that failed spectacularly by her parents. Her family aren't poor villagers, but even with wealthier Indians there's a real cultural thing where females aren't equal to males....

[seabeyond]

10. a friend of sons. drove 6 hours with his mother to drop kids off in dallas.

she too was arranged marriage and the whole role born in india. she was fascinated with all i said. on the way home, just her and i, 6 fuckin hours of me talking, lol. now, the roles were ok with her. she was making the arranged marriage work. but, she would ask question after question to hear how different another woman thought, and LOVED it.

interesting. different experience.

6 hours of talking, my mouth so dry and hoarse, but she was like absorbing and taking info in so much, i could stop.

[demosincebirth]

13. Arranged marriages are no comparison to baby killings in a certain culture

[Tumbulu]

8. Well, what I have seen in terms of the way

that daughters are treated in some cultures, I can see why the mother's abort the female embryos. Why go through all this just to produce a child that will be beaten and put down and treated worse than a slave? Really, it does seem inhumane.

In this generation of youngsters now, when there are not enough girls, then they will be come the more valuable sex, and the culture will have changed. I see this rampant femicide as a transition period. At least I hope it is.

It is so very sad and strange to me that the females are so unwanted and males so prized.

[seabeyond]

11. daughters are treated in some cultures, I can see why the mother's abort

dont you ever go away with your different perspective. you are so very valuable to our forum. got that? lol. absolutely. what an excellent point.

[Tumbulu]

17. thanks seabeyond

you sure make me feel welcome!

Thanks for all the interesting things that you post here.

[seabeyond]

18. i love your unique perspective thru your unique experiences.

and you are welcome

[4th law of robotics]

12. As you say, a lack of females will in the long term cause a reversal of this trend

it is primarily economic in nature: sons stick around and take care of their parents, daughters cost a dowry to get rid of.

Ergo sons are much more valuable. A particular consideration for people making a poverty wage.

But a shortage in women will only increase their value. I wouldn't be surprised if parents end up paying handsomely for a daughter to marry their son. So in time this trend will reverse itself and hopefully settle out to being gender neutral in the long run.

Not much of a consolation for women now though.

[redqueen]

14. Shortages of women result in wars and other social ills,

not women getting closer to having the same status as men.

[seabeyond]

15. winger pointed that out. i thought that was a good point. nt

[Tumbulu]

16. That has been the case in the past

but cultures are changing very quickly now.

I can see a time when the whole dowry thing is just dropped in these cultures.

The world is a much smaller place now, with people moving around it far more easily.

I want to believe that ....I hope that ......things will improve for women in these cultures so that they do not think that producing a daughter is producing a slave who they have to pay to get rid of.....