NCJ Number
222934
Journal
International Journal o fCriminal Justice Science Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2006
Date Published
January 2006
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper theoretically examines the magnitude of the incidence of female foeticide and infanticide in India.
Abstract
In India, girls are devalued, not only because of the economic consideration, but also because of sociocultural factors, such as, the belief that the son extends the lineage, provides protection, safety, and security to the family, and is necessary for salvation. With that said, sex selective abortions and an increase in the number of female infanticide cases have become a significant social phenomenon in many parts of India. The female children become targets of attack even before they are born. Today, modern medical sciences, such as Amniocentesis and Ultra-sonography, originally designed for detecting abnormalities of the fetus, are being misused for determining to be female. The National Plan of Action for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Decade of the Girl Child (1991-2000) seeks to ensure the equality status for the girl child with provisions devised to protect the life of the born and the unborn. However, the objective of the law gets defeated due to lacunae in the law and lack of proper implementation. Determining the magnitude of this problem is difficult to assess since most deliveries take place at home and there is no record of the exact number of births/deaths that take place. This paper theoretically analyzes the prevalence of the incidence of female foeticide (aborting of a female fetus or sex selective abortion) and infanticide (the deliberate and intentional art of killing a female child) in India.