Experience is the best teacher
The female infanticide is finally catching up and fast! This chauvinistic attitude of preferring a son over a daughter, who is considered to be a burden has truly punished the men of this village in Haryana – Bibipur. It has one of the worst sex ratios in the country — 877 females to 1,000 males, according to the 2011 census — this village is running out of brides. And when political leaders came calling, asking for their votes - the men had only one wish – get us brides and we will vote!
Some 67 men there have come together and formed an association - Avivahit Purush Sanghthan. This village went to the polls on 10th April and the most funny part of the speech of these politicians, actually also the saddest is that they promised brides if they were voted to power!
But the silver lining here is that the villagers are slowly but surely learning the importance of a girl child and are now amongst the few villages in Haryana which talks about the ills of female infanticide. In fact the village panchayat last year, Bibipur announced incentives on the birth of a girl child and passed a resolution demanding an amendment in the Indian Penal Code to book the perpetrators of female foeticide on charges of murder. The good part is that another close by, another village, Jind, which also has a pathetic female sex ratio, has decided to give Rs 1,100 to the family where a girl child is born. The panchayat has also decided to collect funds for those poor families of the village who are unable to finance the marriage off their daughters. It will provide Rs.11,000 during the marriage of a girl and its aim now – to eradicate the social evil of female infanticide. So some good does come after so much bad….