‘No girls born’ for past three months in area of India covering 132 villages
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Any parents found to have carried out female foeticide will face legal action, district magistrate says.
By Chris Baynes
An investigation into suspected sex-selective abortions has been launched by magistrates in a district of northern India after government data showed none of the 216 children born across 132 villages over three months were girls.
Authorities in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand state, said the official birth rate was ‘alarming’ and pointed towards widespread female foeticide.
India outlawed the selective abortion of female foetuses in 1994 but the practice remains commonplace in the country, where parents often see boys as breadwinners and girls as costly liabilities.
The last population census, conducted in 2011, found there were only 943 females per 1,000 males in India.
Ashish Chauhan, Uttarkashi’s district magistrate, said the area’s recent female birth rate – collected by the local health department – was ‘suspicious and has highlighted female foeticide’.
The 132 villa...
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