Another Life Lost For An Heir: Four-Month Pregnant Woman’s Dark Tale Of Female Foeticide, Illegal Abortion Signal India's Looming Crisis

India is the land of contrasts, it is the same nation where people would line up at temples for a glimpse of their 'goddess' but balk the idea of having a daughter in the family. In an appalling incident in Maharashtra, a four-month-pregnant woman named Sonali, mother to two daughters, fell victim to this cruel paradox. Desperate for a male heir, her family forced her to undergo a prenatal test, and on discovering it was a girl again, they insisted on abortion.

Tragically, the abortion procedure led to severe bleeding, and Sonali fainted in the clinic which was run illegally in a house in Mahalingpur, Bagalkot (Karnataka). Her family decided to take her back to Maharashtra but she died on the way. Doctors in Kolhapur informed Maharashtra police since they suspected the woman had undergone an abortion. When questioned, the family confessed that they took Sonali to Mahalingpur for an abortion on the recommendation of an agent named Maruti Karwad.

The three people responsible in connection with the case, Kavita Badanavar (Doctor, former employee of a government hospital), Vijay Gouli (Sonali's relative) and Maruti Karwad (agent) were arrested by Maharashtra Police. Shockingly, it wasn't the first time Kavita Badannanavar was arrested in an illegal abortion case. Police sources discovered that there is a similar pending case against her which was filed a few years ago.

This is just another case uncovering the grim reality of India's mindset towards the girl child. For ages, a female child has been seen as a burden, bringing along a host of responsibilities to their family, and who would want that, right? No wonder a male child is the preferred gender, for he would be a source of pride, act as a financial pillar for the family, and eventually marry a woman who would bring a substantial dowry.

Baby Girl? No - No!

Yes, we stand in 2024, some of you reading this while sipping your coffee at a cafe or relaxing at home might chuckle and question if having a girl child in the family was still an issue. But, in the same city you inhabit, unbeknownst to you and many of us are women who are silently enduring struggles, tortured within their own homes, by their own families, labelled 'unworthy' for failing to produce a male heir or are being forced into abortion centers to dispose off female foetuses.

The harsh truth is, yes, these heinous crimes are happening in the very same India which is being celebrated for its rapid development and emergence on the global stage. Unfortunately, amidst India's growth chatter, we fail to realise how we have been faltering at the very core time and again. Female foeticide and illegal abortions persist, unabated, despite the presence of a legal framework.

Why and how, you might ask? Simply because it seems that the plight of women, bearing the burden of their gender in India, was never deemed a factor that would impact our country's developmental trajectory. Don't you think?

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The WHYs

To delve into the roots of why, despite having a legal framework against illegal abortions and female foeticide, we haven't been able to halt these heinous crimes and why all this while we never regarded these as obstacles in our country's full development, we spoke to our legal expert Siddharth Chandrashekhar and he stressed, "Despite the facade of progress, the dark underbelly of rural India still shrouds women in a veil of silence and desperation. Despite the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP Act), many women in rural & isolated areas unfortunately still lack fundamental access to safe & legal abortion services. This deficit in healthcare infrastructure forces women to seek unsafe, unlawful operations, sometimes under duress from family members and aided by unqualified staff conducting procedures that should only be performed by certified medical practitioners."

He elaborated on how social stigma and cultural barriers in the country make it more challenging for women to undergo safe abortion procedures. "In the tapestry of Indian culture, abortion is a thread woven with shame and secrecy. Society's harsh gaze pierces the hearts of those who dare to confront the taboo, driving them into the arms of clandestine solutions in the form of illegal abortions rather than legal options. This stigma is further entrenched by cultural and religious beliefs that oppose abortion, making women resort to unsafe methods," he said.

Further, our expert highlighted how lack of awareness related to abortion and safe procedures also contributes to the prevalence of these practices in India. "A considerable segment of the populace remains uninformed regarding the legal entitlements and medically sanctioned avenues accessible for abortion. Misconceptions and deficient sexual education perpetuate the prevalence of illicit abortion practices. Women, particularly those from marginalized demographics, frequently encounter impediments in accessing requisite information and resources essential for making informed decisions concerning their reproductive well-being."

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Under Sections 315 and 316 of the Indian Penal Code, a person found guilty of killing a female foetus faces a three-year imprisonment and a fine of ₹50,000 under the PNDT Act (Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques). If this adequately matches the gravity of the crime committed calls for a different debate since the Indian judiciary has consistently fallen short in this regard. However, to understand why despite the existing legal penalty we continue to witness such appalling crimes? We sought answers from our legal expert. "Despite the legal framework provided by the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, which criminalises sex determination and female foeticide, enforcement mechanisms often fall short. Systemic issues such as corruption and inadequate enforcement impede the effective implementation of the law, allowing clandestine clinics offering sex determination and abortion services to operate with impunity," he said.

Will there ever be a day when we don't wake up to such disturbing pieces of news Or do you think it will take us crimes of even greater severity to stir our hearts and drive us toward change? Only time will tell.