Female Foeticide: Female foeticide is the practice of determining the gender of a fetus and aborting the fetus if it is a girl. Despite being illegal, many people continue to do so. In addition, several communities practice female infanticide, which means killing a baby girl shortly after birth. This fact is indicated by the census figures of 2001 which show that there are only 933 women for every 1000 men in the country.

Female Foeticide

In India strong love for sons over daughters. People want smaller families Relatively larger boys misuse medical technology. This is one of the main reasons. A decrease in the sex ratio.

Female feticide is an abortion method that kills a woman's fetus from the womb Mother before birth after gender identification tests such as ultrasound. A woman Feticide and even all gender identification tests are illegal in India.

Causes of Female Foeticide

Female feticide was sometimes practiced, especially in families where there was a preference for only a male child. There are several religious, social, economic, and emotional reasons for female feticide. Times have changed a lot now, but for many reasons and beliefs, it continues in some families. Some of the main causes of female feticide are:

• Usually, parents do not want a girl child because they have to give a large amount as dowry at the daughter's marriage.
• It is believed that girls are always consumers and boys are the only producers. Therefore, parents understand that the boy earns money all his life and takes care of his parents, whereas the girls get married one day and have a family of their own.
• It is believed that the boy will carry the family surname in the future, while the girl must take her husband's family name.
• It is a matter of social prestige for parents and grandparents to have a boy in the family rather than a daughter.

Effects of Foeticide on Women

Sex ratio describes the ratio of women to men in a given area. Many practices like female feticide and female infanticide (killing a baby girl after she is born) have adversely affected the sex ratio. This promotes many social evils. According to the decennial census of India, the sex ratio of India is 107.48, meaning there are 107.48 men for every 100 women. So for every 1000 men in India, there are 930 women. Therefore, 48.20 percent of the population is female compared to 51.80 percent male.

Controlled Measures

We all know that female feticide is a crime and a social evil that threatens the future of women. The causes of female feticide in Indian society must be addressed. Female infanticide or feticide is mainly due to sex determination. Some measures include:

• The law must be enforced, and those found guilty of this unethical practice should be punished.
• The medical license should be permanently revoked if practitioners continue to perform illegal sex determination tests or abortions.
• Marketing of medical devices, especially for illegal sex determination and abortion, should be strictly prohibited. Parents seeking to kill a girl child should be fined.
• Campaigns and seminars should be organized regularly to inform young couples.
• Women should be made aware of their rights so they can protect themselves and prevent such practices.

Supreme Court of India judgment in Voluntary Health Association of Punjab v Union of India & ors, 8 November 2016 regarding the increase in female feticide and the resulting gender imbalance and indifference in the implementation of the strict law. valid in India.

In its judgement, the Supreme Court directed the states and Union Territories to immediately implement the Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Methods (Prohibition of Sex Selection) (6 Months Training) Rules, 2014, "considering that the training provided therein is necessary for to achieve. the object and purpose of this Act."

The Hon'ble Supreme Court in a landmark case "Suchita Srivastava and Anr. vs. Chandigarh Administration, (2009) 14 SCR 989" where a mentally challenged orphan became pregnant as a result of rape, said that Article 21 of the US Constitution in India, which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, has a wider scope. extends to a woman's freedom to make reproductive choices. These rights are part of a woman's right to privacy, personal freedom, dignity and bodily integrity, which is stipulated under Article 21 of the constitution of India.

This similar view was reiterated by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the landmark case 'Justice K.S.Puttaswamy (Retd) v. Union of India, (2019)1 SCC 1'.

Vinod Soni and Anr. vs. Union of India, 2005 CriLJ 3408 , In this case, the petitioner challenged the constitutional validity of the Pregnancy and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994, claiming that it violated Article 21 of the Constitution of India on the ground that the right to personal liberty includes liberty. of choice the sex of the offspring.

The Honorable Supreme Court rejected the contention of the petitioner, observed that "thus, it is seen that the enactment will not result in a complete prohibition of any such test. Thus, it intends to prohibit the user and arbitrary users of such. tests. pre- or post-conception sex-determining tests. A right to life or personal liberty cannot be extended so that the right to personal liberty includes the freedom of the potential person to determine the sex of the child."

Indian Laws For Unborn Children

Constitution of India, 1950

Section 312 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, read with the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, all restrictions therein, including the 20-week period, except those which ensure good diseases, violate the right to abortion and the right to health under Article 21, the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution. The right to abortion is the right to privacy, which was re-proclaimed under Article 21 of the Constitution to continue the right to life.

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Sections 312 to 316 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) deal with abortion and the death of an unborn child, and the penalties range from seven years' imprisonment and a fine to life imprisonment, depending on the seriousness and intent of the crime.

• Section 312: Causing termination of pregnancy Who voluntarily causes an abortion, unless the abortion is caused in good faith to save the life of the woman, will be punished with imprisonment of both categories which can extend up to three years, or with a fine, or with both. If the woman is with a child, the punishment may range from seven years to one year, and a fine. Explanation: A woman who causes an abortion within the meaning of this section.
• Section 313: To cause termination of pregnancy without the consent of the woman Whoever commits the crime specified in the previous section without the consent of the woman, whether the woman is pregnant or not, must be punished with imprisonment for life or with both types of imprisonment for a term that may extend to ten years.
• Section 314: Death by act intended to cause abortion Whoever, intending to cause a woman to have an abortion, commits an act that causes her death, will be punished with both types of imprisonment which may extend up to ten years and with a fine. If the act is done without the consent of the woman, the punishment is imprisonment for life or the punishment mentioned above. Explanation: In this offence, the offender need not know that the act is likely to cause death.
• Section 315: Act aimed at preventing a child from being born alive or causing death after birth Whoever, before the birth of a child, does any act with the intention of preventing that child from being born alive or causing its death after birth, if the act is not caused in good faith to save the life of the mother, is punished either with imprisonment, which can extend up to ten years, or with a fine.
• Section 316: Quickly causing the death of an unborn child by an act considered as culpable homicide Whoever does any act under such circumstances that, if it causes death, he would be guilty of manslaughter, and by that act immediately causes the death of an unborn child, will be punished with imprisonment for both types for ten years.

Special Laws on Female Infanticide:

Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Methods (Regulation and Prevention of Abuse) Act, 1994 In September 1994, the Prenatal Diagnostic Technologies (Regulation and Prevention of Abuse) Act was passed to combat female feticide in the country through the misuse of technology. The law was amended in 2003 to regulate sex selection technology and to stop the decline in the sex ratio of children. It is now known as the Conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994. Its purpose:

• i. Ban the use of sex selection techniques before or after conception.
• ii. Prevent misuse of prenatal diagnostic methods for sex-selective abortions.
• iii. Regulate such techniques with severe penalties for illegal determination of the sex of the fetus.

Written By: Zeeshan Tamanna, School Of Legal Studies - Central University Of Kashmir (J&K)