06/21/2012, 00.00
INDIA
Send to a friend

Stop female foeticide, reject abortion, says Mgr Gracias

by Nirmala Carvalho
The auxiliary bishop of Mumbai speaks about a case in Beed District (Maharashtra), where police discovered aborted female foetuses, including one in the eighth month of pregnancy. Similar cases have been reported across the state. Now police is investigating hundreds of women and targeting shady clinics.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - Female foeticides performed in the district of Beed (Maharashtra) are "the latest case of atrocity and discrimination against girls. However, we must be outraged by all abortions. Human life is sacred from conception. If we justify abortion in the name of a "right to choose", why then be surprised by female foeticides and infanticides?" said Mgr Agnelo Gracias, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Mumbai, as he spoke about a recent case that has shocked India. In early June, police in the District of Beed found female foetuses that were aborted in various advanced stages of pregnancy.

In recent weeks, other areas in Maharashtra have been front-page news because of reports concerning a number of medical clinics. In the past eight months, police found the remains of five females foetuses who died in forced abortions, experts say.

The latest case broke on Tuesday when the body of a six-month girl was found in a dustbin in a local hospital in Ulhasnagar (Thane District). As in previous case, the foetus was aborted outside the limits of the law.

"The post-mortems indicated surgical abortions [. . .] beyond the legal limit for abortions. And they were all found in the same area," forensic expert Dr Ganesh Niturakar was quoted as saying.

Following this case, police launched a large-scale investigation, involving hundreds of women and clinics suspected to have performer illegal sex determination tests.

 

TAGs
Send to a friend
Printable version
CLOSE X
See also
Skewed birth ratios raise fears of social crisis in Vietnam
10/07/2008
Indian Supreme Court calls for special incentives for families who give birth to baby girls
26/11/2014
Forced abortions of baby girls in third, sixth and eighth month pregnancies
06/06/2012
Female foeticides and selective abortions drop in Nepal
04/02/2015
Karnataka, 20 fetuses found under a bridge, they were all girls
28/01/2013


Newsletter

Subscribe to Asia News updates or change your preferences

Subscribe now
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”