Tamil Nadu launches special police task force against female feticide and infanticide
The initiative in response to the latest case of the killing of a baby girl. It was reported by the child's grandfather, who was suspicious of the explanation for the death given by his daughter. Catholic doctor applauds initiative: ‘urgent’ to promote ‘value and dignity’ of women from conception.
Delhi (AsiaNews) - A special task force against cases of infanticide of girls and murder of female foetuses in Vellore. This is the initiative launched by the government of Tamil Nadu, in southern India, in response to a recent news case in which a couple was arrested following the death of their daughter.
According to the city's district police, 28-year-old Jeeva and his wife Dayana, 20, from Yeliur village in Vellore district were arrested on 6 September for allegedly poisoning the child.
The investigation was triggered by a complaint filed by Saravanan, Dayana's father and grandfather of the victim, who approached the local police station (Sho) in Veppankulam, after becoming suspicious about the cause of death.
Interviewed by AsiaNews, Dr Pascoal Carvalho, a member of the Delhi Archdiocese's Committee for Human Life (Ahlc) and former member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, applauds the initiative because it is ‘urgent’ to promote the ‘value and dignity’ of women from conception.
Recalling that the Church on 8 September celebrates the birthday of Mary, mother of Jesus, he emphasises once again the importance of opposing widespread practices such as ‘female infanticide and ferticide’. And he reiterates his opposition to sex-determination tests and selective abortions, hoping for ‘a change in the consciences’ of the country, valuing protection and safeguard programmes such as Tamil Nadu's ‘Cradle Baby Scheme’ for abandoned children.
The latest news story emerged thanks to the courageous denunciation of the grandfather of the little victim, who was not convinced by his daughter's account that the newborn girl had died after bleeding from her nose and ears.
Following the investigation, the parents admitted that they had killed her because they ‘expected the second child to be a boy’. Now the police have arranged for the formation of a special unit to investigate all cases of deaths of young girls registered in the state over the past year.
In the past, there have been several cases of foetal death or female infanticide in the Vellore district. According to statistics, at least one or two deaths were due to milk ingestion (according to the official version) and all of them involved girls.
The district administration had already sent a missive to medical officers to consider second daughters as ‘high-risk babies’ and to be followed up every week for at least a month. The authorities have also instructed all hospitals to monitor the progress of the deliveries and to send a team of village nurses and technicians to check on the girls.
The state medical department has also stepped up enforcement of the Pre-Conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act (Pcpndt) of 1994 to try to curb female fetishes. Added to this is the crackdown on illegal screening centres that were used for sex identification.
A couple of years ago, in the Tiruvannamalai district, also in Tamil Nadu, as many as 22 such centres were closed down. After the Vellore police registered a case of female infanticide against Jeeva and Dayana, the special police team will finally check the cases of abortions and medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) in the last year in each district.
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24/10/2019 17:56
