FEMALE FOETICIDE: A CRY….. STILL UNHEARD

 

P.C. dnaindia.com

“Beti bachao! Beti padhao!... If you educate a boy you educate an individual, if you educate a girl you educate an entire generation!”

These are the slogans we hear every now and then; they are now on almost every person’s tongue, written on almost every alternate truck that we see and placed in many hoardings. These slogans have now been taken for granted and have become equal to any other daily dialogues taking place between two persons.

Various laws and social awareness campaigns are being carried out all over  the country, urging people to save the girl child. Ironically, 19 aborted female foetuses were found dumped near a stream in Sangli, Maharashtra in 2017. The dark truth is that women face prejudice even before they are born.^[1]

WHAT IS FEMALE FOETICIDE?

Female foeticide/infanticide is carried out through Sex-Selective Abortions^[2], wherein first, the sex of the foetus is assessed and then abortion is done if it is a girl child. The technology commonly known as the ultrasound technology was developed exclusively to detect any genetic abnormalities in a child, but later it became easily available to the public through illegal sex determination centres.

Data released by the government in 2016 revealed that India’s sex ratio i.e. the number of females per 1000 males at birth had fallen from 946 in 1949 to 887 in 2014. The number of girls below 6 per 1,000 boys has also fallen and in 2011, the figure stood at 914, the lowest since Independence.^[3] There are many laws in India which govern and prohibit the killing of foetuses and infants. However, it is very difficult to track such cases of female infanticide and most of them go unnoticed.

 

LAWS AND REGULATIONS ON ABORTION/MISCARRIAGE, ILLEGAL SEX DETERMINATION AND FEMALE FOETICIDE

Let us go through some of the laws which regulate the abortion/miscarriage of a child.

The very first law which has made abortion legal in India only under specific conditions is the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971^[4]. This law particularly restricted abortion only to three cases, namely- abnormalities in the child, a high health risk to the mother, and a child conceived due to rape. However, this Act could not consider the possibilities of sex-selective abortions due to technological advancements and thus proved to be ineffective.

In The Indian Penal Code, 1860, section 312 to section 318, punishes persons for abortion if not done in good faith and for the health and life of the mother and the child. To understand the basic provision, section 312 says,

“Whoever voluntarily causes a woman with child to miscarry, shall, if such miscarriage be not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 3 years, or with fine, or with both; and, if the woman be quick with child, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and also be liable to fine.”

The next following sections constitute the aggravated forms of this crime, like:

·       Causing miscarriage without woman’s consent.

·       Miscarriage leading to the death of the mother.

·       Any act done to prevent the child from being born alive.

·       Concealment of birth by secret disposal of the dead body.^[5]

Next is the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 2003 (PC-PNDT), which criminalizes it to determine the sex of an unborn child, using sex-selection technologies. This Act primarily states that ultrasound centres and genetic laboratories cannot be used for knowing the sex of the foetus. It also makes the registration of all the ultrasound centres mandatory and also directs them to maintain records of every scan done during the pregnancy of a woman.

WHY DO THESE CRIMES GO UNNOTICED?

It is said that it is quite difficult to trace data related to sex-selective abortions. As most of the abortions are carried out in an illegal and secretive way, the government agencies have proven to be ineffective in tracking down the centres where such abortions take place. If we look at the average annual data, nearly 5 to 6 million abortions take place every year and over 3/4^th of these are by unapproved facilities.^[6]

Some investigations and reports show that the people who are involved in these sex determination rackets use codes to communicate and carry out their illegal business. It has been almost 20 years since the PC-PNDT Act came into force but still many cases go unreported. According to the Act, each district is required to set up a committee called the Appropriate Authority Committee; however, only a few districts have constituted such committees.

Another upcoming trend in this criminal field is ‘Reproductive Tourism’. In countries where sex determination is banned, people travel to foreign countries where such tests are allowed to determine the sex of the child. America and Thailand have become such hubs for reproductive tourism. It has been estimated that around 80-90% of people from India, China and East Europe go to foreign countries for such activity. In these cases, it becomes nearly impossible for the Government to catch hold of such people.^[7]

The 10^th Common Review Mission report under the National Health Mission noted that the poor implementation of the PC-PNDT Act is also one of the main reasons for fewer convictions for female foeticide. Out of court settlements, lack of evidence and witnesses add and provoke people to commit such crimes as they know that they can easily escape punishments.^[8]

REPERCUSSIONS OF FEMALE FOETICIDE

The very basic consequence of female foeticide is the steep difference in the sex ratio. This  encourages trafficking of women. A very brutal example of this can be found in Haryana. Haryana is said to have the poorest sex ratio due to which there arises difficulty in finding women for marriage. This in turn leads to trafficking, wherein women from Assam, West Bengal, and Bangladesh are kidnapped and sold in Haryana.

Dilution in women’s population also leads to male domination in the society which increases the chances of exploitation of women. We all agree that women have a multi-faceted role in the society; even patriarchal sects in the society will have to concede to it. The decreasing ratio will do nothing but destruct the future.^[9]

WHAT IS THE WAY OUT OF IT?

Continuous monitoring and vigilance of ultrasound centres, hospitals and a bold implementation of laws are the only ways out of this heinous offence. On the contrary, during this pandemic situation, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has relaxed some rules under the PC-PNDT Act like the renewal of the registrations, submission of diagnostic reports by the genetic laboratories or the ultrasound centres.^[10] Though it has been made mandatory to continue maintaining records, even small relaxations or suspension in rules can pave the way for illegal abortions. To give careful thought, even when the laws are strict in normal situations, such crimes go unnoticed; it would be not wise to relax such norms in any matter. Alternatives should be made available when it is not physically possible to monitor such centres.

Families and relatives who support sex determination and female foeticide need to be convinced about the ill effects of it and that bearing a girl child does not burden the family. Doctors and nursing homes are generally in a dominant position that can refuse to carry out sex-selective abortions and respect medical ethics which can help curb such practices to a large extent.

Since long, inadequate implementation of laws, lethargic behaviour of administrative authorities, and lack of awareness and education have been the root causes of the majority of problems in India; female foeticide is one of them.

BY

SAYALI MANDLIK

3RD B.A.LL.B.

ILS LAW COLLEGE

 

 

 

 

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^[1]19 Female foetuses found in Sangli, Maharashtra seeks help from Karnataka,  India Today (06/03/2017), https://www.indiatoday.in/india/maharashtra/story/sangli-female-foetuses-maharashtra-964219-2017-03-06 last seen on 27/12/2020.

^[2] R Usha, Sayeed Unisa & Suchitra Pujari, Sex Selective Abortion in India, 42(01) Economic & Political Weekly, available at https://www.epw.in/journal/2007/01/special-articles/sex-selective-abortion-haryana.html, last seen on 28/12/2020.

^[3] Beti Bachao:  Government’s Efforts To Eradicate Female Infanticide and Sex Selective Abortion Are Inadequate, EPW Engage (22/11/2019), available at https://www.epw.in/engage/article/beti-bachao-eradicate-female-infanticide-violence-against-women-girls-abortion#:~:text=Data%20released%20by%20the%20government,1949%20to%20887%20in%202014. last seen on 27/12/2020.

^[4] Supra 2.

^[5] PSA Pillai, Criminal Law, Chapter 35, 12^th edition.

^[6] Supra 2.

^[7] India witnesses the highest female infanticide incidents in the world: Study, Down to Earth (19/09/2018), available at https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/health/india-witnesses-one-of-the-highest-female-infanticide-incidents-in-the-world-54803, last seen on 29/12/2020.

^[8] PCPNDT Act implementation poor in several states: Report, Financial Express (03/06/2017), available at https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/pcpndt-act-implementation-poor-in-several-states-report/698888/last seen on 29/12/2020.

^[9] Dr. Ishita Chatterjee,  The Evil of Female Foeticide In India: Causes, Consequences and Prevention, Legal Service India, available at http://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-777-the-evil-of-female-foeticide-in-india-causes-consequences-and-prevention.html last seen on 30/12/2020.

^[10] Beti Bachao: Government’s Efforts to Eradicate Female Infanticide and Sex-Selective Abortion are Inadequate, Medical Dialogues, (10/04/2020) https://medicaldialogues.in/news/health/government-policies/no-pndt-act-has-not-been-suspended-only-certain-provisions-relaxed-health-ministry-issues-clarification-64722, last seen on 30/12/2020.