Indian parents invariably have a son preference. Gradually, this mindset is changing with the spread of education, advocacies and campaigns promoted by the state and non-state actors. But this change is confined to the higher classes, educated families living in urban areas. Majority of the poverty-ridden families, who do not have education, awareness about the importance of girls and women in a society continue to believe that lineage is traced through males, a son is expected to perform certain last rites which daughters cannot, that a son (putra) saves his parents from the hell called "put". As for the daughters, they are considered "parayadhan"(property belonging to others). In short, daughters
are treated as liabilities while sons are looked upon as assets. These beliefs compel parents to opt for prenatal sex selection. The detection of a female foetus leads parents to kill it in the mother's womb itself. This results in a declining sex ratio in society. The 2011 census shows that there are 940 females per 1000 males in our country. It is alarmingly low in some states and Union Territories like Haryana (877), Delhi (866), Chandigarh (818), Dadra Nagar Haveli (775), Daman and Diu (618). In our own state Odisha, the districts like Nayagarh (916) and Khordha(925), Anugul (942) and Dhenkanal (947) also have a low sex ratio.
Similarly, many girls are thrown on river banks, into wells or left on streets after birth. Such painful incidents take place during their infancy (i.e. Between 0 to 5 years of age). These are more common in northern states such as UP, Bihar, MP, and Rajasthan. It is also a gender-selective killing.
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