Female Foetuses Recovered in Orissa from a Waste Dump
Nayagarh (Orissa in India), SVM News, July 23, 2007: State police recovered more than 30 body parts of female babies from an abandoned well near a maternity clinic on July 22 near Nayagarh town. Nayagarh is one of the eastern districts of Orissa state in India.
Forensic tests are being carried out on the remains following the raid at Nayagarh on Sunday. Police said they raided an area outside Nayagarh following a tip off.
"We found skulls and bones in some biological waste. We have seized them and they have been sent for chemical examination," Rajesh Kumar, the District Superintendent of Police of Nayagarh said.
foetuses found in this waste dumb
The foetuses were buried inside a pit in a plot of a land belonging to a maternity clinic owner. The clinic owner and manager have now been taken into custody.
Officials say it is not possible at this stage to say exactly how many bodies were found in the bags. "We cannot put any numbers. We have to wait for the details of the investigation," B.K. Sharma, the crime branch inspector general of Orissa said to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.
The state government has now ordered an inquiry into the matter.
At 901 females to 1000 males, Nayagarh district has the worst sex ratio in Orissa. It's no coincidence that it also has over 12 private nursing homes and ultrasound clinics. "We need to find out what goes in these ultrasound centers," says Santosh Kumar Mishra, the Deputy Director of Health (Nutrition).
Similar incidents have been reported from other parts of the country in recent months, raising concerns about India's dwindling female population.
Female foeticide is believed to be one of the main reasons for the skewed sex ratio in India.
Renuka Chowdhary, central minister for Women and Child Development of India said the government plans to monitor all pregnancies to prevent female foeticide.
In June, police arrested the owner of a clinic near Delhi on suspicion of illegally aborting female foetuses. The arrest followed a raid at the clinic in Gurgaon in Haryana state. Officials said the remains of several foetuses were found in a well nearby.
Last year, a surprise raid in Patiala district in Punjab province unearthed the remains of at least 50 female foetuses from a well by a private clinic.
"India is being called as 'Bharat Matha (Mother India)'. There is no word in the universe greater than 'mother', except God. Such a precious personality, mother, is the fullness of a woman. According the Indian ethics, woman is the synonym of all prosperities. Then how can we kill a woman foetus? Stop the killing," Paul Ciniraj, the Director of Salem Voice Ministries said in a statement.
"It is a big sin and a curse from God to abort a child, whether it is a female or a male. They have right to live in this world. They are tomorrow's promises from God to the family, the community, the nation and the universe," he added.
"According the Christian Scripture, every human being is created in the image of God. It is certainly a persecution, if we kill a baby, an innocent being of God's image," Paul Ciniraj continued.
Updated news of July 24
(Centre Sought Report to Orissa on Female Foeticide)
Nayagarh (Orissa), SVM News, July 24, 2007: Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Orissa ordered to have crime branch investigation over the shocking discovery of a large number of female foetuses in Nayagarh District.
Four more persons, including a doctor, were arrested in connection with recovery of female foetuses and body parts of babies. Earlier, two persons had been arrested.
The Central Government of India has sought a report on the issue and asked the state government of Orissa to ensure strict implementation under PNDT (Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques) Act, 1994. (PNDT is the Regulation and Prevention of misuse).
The letter emphasises on the need to create awareness against female foeticide and to educate people that it is illegal.
And the National Commission for Women (NCW) also set up an inquiry on this issue. The NCW has meanwhile constituted a three-member inquiry committee headed by Commission Member Manju Hembrom that will visit Nayagarh on July 26 to investigate the matter.
"We will visit the clinic near where the foetuses were found. We will also talk to the state administration and the police," Hembrom said.
Union Women and Child Development Secretary Deepa Jain Singh has written to the Chief Secretary of Orissa asking that those guilty of foeticide or infanticide in Nayagarh should be booked and stringent action be taken against them.
A large number of body parts of newborn babies and foetuses were found in different parts of Orissa. The foetesus were 6 to 8 months old.
A 12 year old school boy had found seven foetuses inside some blood-stained polythene bags on July 14, while searching for waste bottles near the cave at Ramachandiprasad village at Pratapgarh, near Duburi in Nayagarh District.
Then another 23 packets of body parts of newborn babies and foetuses were found on Sunday, the 22nd July, in a garbage pit close to the Krishna Nursing Home at Nabaghanpur village, barely three km from Nayagarh town.
On Monday, July 23, some more foetuses were found in a drain near Golanthara village in Ganjam district of Orissa.
SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
Center for Persecuted Christians in India and third world:
