Activists demand workshops on gender equality after Beed horror

Activists are demanding that the government conduct awareness camps and workshops on gender equality and provide reservation incentives to mothers, who give birth to female children.

Grieving: Nazrana Bi, who filed a complaint against her husband Momin Illyas after he drowned their 20-day-old daughter at Beed on Saturday

Beed-based activists Manisha Tokle and Ashok Tangde, said that female infanticide has been happening across the country for years and is not limited only to Beed. u00a0Tokle said that people, irrespective of caste and creed, look down on women and in most Indian households, a male child is given preferential treatment over a female child.u00a0

To get to the root of this problem one must understand the socio-economic and cultural structure in India. Due to the patriarchal framework of society, the male child is looked upon as the breadwinner. Parents look upon them for their security in later years, to carry forward the family name and perform their last rites, while the female child is looked upon as a burden due to prevalent dowry practice.

"In India there are many shocking instances of female infanticide. A startling fact is that often the mother or other female members in her network actively participate in these heinous executions. The government should come up with new schemes to protect the girl child and provide her with all basic rights," said Tangde.

After the recent case of female infanticide, Satara-based activist Varsha Deshpande said, "It is sad that we lost yet another girl child, but it is good to know that women in Beed are moving ahead and such instances are being reported, whereas other parts of the state are still in slumber mode. The decreasing male-female sex ratio will ultimately lead to more exploitation and violence against women and the situation will be even graver if things are not taken seriously." u00a0

Another Beed horror
On Saturday, 35-year-old Momin Illyas drowned his 20-day-old daughter, as he was upset that his second child was also a girl. His wife Nazrana Bi filed a complaint against him at Beed police station. A case of murder has been registered against Illyas under Section 302 of the IPC. He was produced in court yesterday and has been remanded in police custody till July 27.