Grinding poverty: Female children are often viewed as an economic burden in India and the mortality rate of female children is one of the highest in the world. Picture posed by models.
Hello Friends!
A father has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after allegedly being caught burying his baby girl alive in the belief it would protect his other children from illness.
It is understood a local guru instructed him to bury the girl, then six weeks old, as a means off warding off further bad luck after the family lost another child to illness last year.
A worker at a burial ground in Pilkhuwa, 100 kilometres south-west of New Delhi, alerted police after he saw two men trying to bury a baby.
Police allegedly found the child's father and her uncle, also being held on suspicion of attempted murder, in the midst of burying the child in a shallow grave.
The baby, Radhika, now two months old, is in hospital recovering from dehydration and malnutrition.
In what could be the third such case in the last month, a local journalist has blamed poverty and illiteracy for the persistence of superstitions.
Radhika's mother Bharati denies any involvement, saying: 'Tell me which mother would want to kill her own child,' reports the BBC.
But graveyard caretaker Sriram Kore said: 'There, you can still see the signs,' indicating a half-dug grave.
But graveyard caretaker Sriram Kore said: 'There, you can still see the signs,' indicating a half-dug grave.
He says he found Radhika's father and uncle digging the grave beside ritual offerings.
'They had a little bundle with them - a dead girl they said they wanted to bury.
'But I could see she was alive. So I called the police immediately,' Mr Kore told the BBC.
'They had a little bundle with them - a dead girl they said they wanted to bury.
'But I could see she was alive. So I called the police immediately,' Mr Kore told the BBC.
Superstition: A child peeks from a window in the slums, where traditional beliefs often promoted by gurus, can still hold sway
Police have so far not been able to trace the guru allegedly involved.
In India, female children are often regarded as a burden because tradition requires large dowry fees to be paid to the other family when they are married.
The country has among the highest female infant mortality rates in the world.
The ratio in the 2011 census was 914 girls for every 1,000 boys, in comparison to 950 girls for every 1,000 boys worldwide.
The ratio in the 2011 census was 914 girls for every 1,000 boys, in comparison to 950 girls for every 1,000 boys worldwide.
Local journalist Mohammad Naseem says he has covered dozens of similar stories, including three in the past month alone.
Culled from The Daily Mail UK.
xoxo
Simply Cheska...
No comments:
Post a Comment