10% dip in female foeticide gives no reason for cheer

Those states that top the charts for most cases registered under female foeticide, have a parallel record of lower sex ratio at birth (SRB), much lower than the national average of 950 females per 1000 males. Incidents of female foeticide are rife across the country. Data from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) states that there has been a mere ten per cent decrease in the registered crimes on a year-on-year basis.

NCRB started maintaining data on foeticides as late as 2014. Across India, in 2014, it recorded 50 cases, while in 2015, 45 cases were reported. Data for 2016 was not available, according to a written response submitted by the Minister of State for Health, Anupriya Patel in Lok Sabha.

In an analysis conducted by DNA, the states with more number of cases registered have a lower than national average SRB.

Haryana tops the chart for cases registered under female foeticide with ten in 2015. Despite of a national drop in case, it records an increase as compared to four cases registered in 2014. Also, Haryana is dubious for having the worst sex ratio at birth (SRB), standing at 836 females per 1000 males, according to the latest National Family Health Survey-4 data. It is a whopping 114 points below the national average, assuming that death of over a hundred girls has gone unaccounted for in the state in 2015-16.

In Punjab, seven cases were registered in 2014, while six were registered in 2015. It has the second worse SRB at 860. While in 2014, Rajasthan had recorded eleven cases, it reduced to four in 2015. It has recorded an SRB of 887. Uttar Pradesh had recorded four such cases in 2014, which increased to six in 2015. UP has SRB of 927. Cases in Maharashtra increased from one in 2014 to five in 2015. Also, the SRB in the state is as low as 924.

The can of worms was opened earlier this month after Dr Babasaheb Khidrapure, known for conducting sex detection and abortion, was arrested by Sangli district police in Maharashtra. These statistics may well just be the tip of an iceberg, as the police had recovered nineteen aborted foetuses found dumped in the district.

Many foeticides may be going unreported to the police, owing to the clandestine nature of the crime. Madhya Pradesh has eight cases recorded in 2015, a decrease from fifteen in 2014, with SRB of 927.

Patel said, "Small family norm coupled with easy availability of sex determination tests may be a catalyst in declining child sex ratio. The government has enacted the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection), Act, 1994 for prohibition of sex selection."

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare asks for a quarterly progress report from all states and Union Territories on the implementation of the PCPNDT Act.

Till date, 56,079 diagnostic facilities have been registered under the Act. 2,316 court cases have been filed in district courts for violating provisions, like not maintaining proper documentation or indulging in illegal sex selection activities. 388 convictions have been secured under the Act and medical licenses of 108 doctors have been suspended by medical councils of various states. Of all these cases, 294 were filed against unregistered diagnostic centres and a total of 1,683 sonography machines have been seized.

Highlighting the highly sexist society that we exist in, the response stated, "Some of the reasons for female foeticide are preference for a son and the belief that it is only he who can perform the last rites, that lineage and inheritance run through the male line. Exorbitant dowry demand is another reason."

Some of the better states in India, who have a robust sex ratio, are Himachal Pradesh (1,078), Kerala (1,047), Odisha (1,036), Dadra Nagar & Haveli (1,013) and Jharkhand (1,002). Except Himachal Pradesh none of these states have reported any cases as per NCRB data.