Female infanticide and female foeticide

Female infanticide refers to the killing of infant girls as soon as they are born. Infanticide can occur a few days or sometime after birth as well. Female Infanticide is generally a direct consequence of gender discrimination, and a deeply rooted patriarchal mindset. Patriarchal mindset is not something which should be endorsed on a wider scale, as it generally is. In India, the highest number of cases related to female infanticide are witnessed, as per analytics.

The preference of a son over a daughter is considered to be a major reason for female infanticide in countries of South-East Asia.
Female foeticide refers to the idea of female fetuses being killed inside the womb of the mother itself. Whenever a sex determination test is conducted on an unborn fetus, the foeticide takes place. At the root of this problem, lies the dowry system prevalent in India.

In India, the Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act 1994 prohibits sex-selection or the disclosure of sex of the foetus. The dowry system entails rules which force the bride’s parents to pay a hefty sum, generally ranging in lakhs. From 1981 to 2016 , there have been missing records of female births .