Date:16/08/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/08/16/stories/2004081613930300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Public forum discusses female foeticide

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, AUG. 15. Can we blame doctors alone for female foeticide and let the couple seeking sex determination and later termination of pregnancy, go free? Or is this a ``collective'' problem created by a society that values boys above girls?

These were the issues discussed at a public forum on female foeticide here on Sunday organised by the Bangalore Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Dona Fernandes of Vimochana said foeticide resulted from commercialisation that viewed females as ``liabilities". Doctors played a role here because they had access to the technology that killed foetuses, she said.

But K. A. Ashok Pai, a psychiatrist and Medical Director of Manasa Nursing Home, Shimoga, differed. A Jaisalmer study had showed that doctors were responsible for two out of 49 cases of female foeticide. "The study found that the women's husbands, in-laws and even own mothers, were responsible for the remainder," he said. The session moderator and infertility specialist, Kamini A. Rao, asked if the Government's ``decoy'' strategy — sending a ``fake patient'' to uncover doctors doing ultrasound scans for sex determination — worked. Ramamurthy, a doctor, said it did but non-government organisations had ``sensationalised'' it. "This blacklists the entire medical fraternity," he said.

Social problems

Ms. Fernandes said foeticide had led to declining sex ratios and new social problems. "In Raichur, girls are sold for Rs. 30,000-Rs. 35,000 to the Jadeja community of Gujarat while girls in Haryana are being sold to men in West Bengal." She said "doctors must treat this as a wake-up call."

While the session had no concrete answer, the speakers wanted more ``self-regulation'' among doctors. Shylaja Santosh, Manager Programming for Udaya TV, and Padmini Prasad, an obstetrician, gynaecologist and sexologist, spoke.