Female Foeticide and Infanticide in India: An Analysis of Crimes against Girl Children

Abstract

Sex selective abortions and increase in the number of f emale infanticide cases have become a significant social phenomenon in several parts of India. It transcends all castes, class and communities and even the North South dichotomy. The girl children become target of attack ev en b efore they are born. Numerous scholars have observed that the latest advances in modern medical sciences ‐ the tests like Amniocentesis and Ultra-sonography which were originally designed for detection of congenital abnormalities of the foetus, are being misused for knowing the sex of the foetus with the intention of aborting it if it happens to be that of a female. The worst situation is when these abortions are carried ou t well beyond the safe period of 12 weeks endangering the women’s life. This paper theoretically analyses the magnitude of the incidence of female foeticide and infanticide in India.