Rising cases of foeticide in Mandya becoming social & legal challenge

Mandya: The district is facing severe consequences due to the rising issue of foeticide, which has now escalated into a significant social and legal challenge.
The district’s sex ratio, which was 934 in 2001 and slightly improved to 939 in 2011, has now plummeted to a worrying 865 in the financial year 2023-24. The activists and experts blame the unchecked foeticide of female foetus for this drop in the number and demand a new law which denies bail for the accused.

According to the data available with the district administration, the sex ratio fell below 900-mark in the period of 2019-20 and continues to fall since then even though it improved slightly during peak Covid-19 period (2021-22).
Stakeholders point out that the biggest challenge in front of the government agencies to curb the foeticide and improve the sex ratio is the various social norms, beliefs especially the property rights. “The foeticide is prevailing more in families which own huge tranches of land, and middle-class families. It is not reported among the poor families who don’t have land. Poor families welcome kids of any gender. But child marriage is rampant among the poor. So, the challenge is multi-dimensional. There is the need of both legal, and social interventions to stop both these social menaces,” explained officials in the health department.
According to Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) district general secretary C Kumari, only stern punishment can bring down the cases of foeticide in the district. “Even after several raids, and arrests, this foeticide mafia is very much active in the district. The government must come out with a new law of declining bail to the accused,” she said.
According to Kumari, Mandya district was infamous for the foeticide for a long time. “But it increased in recent years after advancement in technologies like scanning, easily available abortion kits, etc,” she said.