A baby girl that nobody wants

In my ignorance and to my shame, I didn't realise this was still going on. Perhaps I forgot, or perhaps a function of self preservation means I do my best to forget about it and move on with my life. And then it rears its ugly head right back up again. And it truly is ugly. And I'm shocked all over again. Who could do this?

 

Last week, a baby girl who was just over a week old was been left abandoned in a hospital and denied her mother’s milk while two different couples fight over a baby boy who was born the same night at Umaid Hospital in Jodhpur, Rajasthan India. 

 

The incident stems from a mistake made by care givers at the hospital who handed Poonam Kanwar a baby boy and congratulated her. About 2 hours later the mid-wives returned and told her there had been a mistake. The baby boy belonged to another mother and that Poonam had actually gave birth to a baby girl. Poonam refused to accept the fact that she had a baby girl. Instead she demanded a DNA test. DNA tests take at least 40 days to complete, so two committees were formed by the hospital to determine who the biological parents of the baby girl were.

 

Both committees found that Poonam was the mother of the baby girl. They proved this through matching blood tests and by the testimony of the hospital superintendent. Poonam still refuses to believe the baby girl is hers and says she will not accept the child until the DNA results are back.

 

The situation gets even worse for the small baby girl. Officials say Poonam has offered to breastfeed the girl, but will not be allowed to do so unless she gives an undertaking to accept the baby is hers, according to Indian media reports. This means that the baby is not only left unwanted, but is also being denied her mother’s breastmilk.

 

 

Despite strong laws in India, it has been reported that female foeticide and sex determination tests are still incredibly widespread, with parents prefering baby boys to girls for economic reasons. Girls are seen to require dowries, whereas boys are seen to become earners and are more likely to look after the family (and their parents in old age). In some districts of western Rajasthan, cases of female feticide and infanticide are at epidemic level, and it has been reported that there used to be 'death wells' for new born girls who are murdered and then discarded in there. 

 

As far as I'm concerned, this isn't just a case of discrimination that our 21st Century world hasn't shone a bright enough light on yet, this is needless and mindless killing based on lack of eduction, perpetuated by an old belief that women are second rate. This should not be something we are reading about as a modern society.