Female Foeticide And Infanticide: A Legal Analysis

Women play a pivotal role in the development of the society. They are an integral part of the mainstream development. Nonetheless, the domination of a female continues in many forms from womb to tomb in the society.[1]  Declining sex ratio and gender discrimination of the girl-child has become a deep-rooted problem in the society. The main reason being the crime of female foeticide and female infanticide. ‘Female Foeticide’ is the destruction of the female foetus in the mother’s womb and ‘Female Infanticide’ is the killing of the girl-child after her birth. If a girl-foetus escapes foeticide then infanticide is waiting for her after birth. Both, foeticide and infanticide, are socially tolerated problems. The desire of having a male child in family has become anissue of gravest concern, leading to gender discrimination. This paper is an attempt to identify the issues, the Law and its application to come to a relevant conclusion.