“We have to join hands and fight against

female infanticide, when life is snuffed out the minute people find out it is a girl.”

–Nita Ambani – 1963.

When a male child is born to a family, he is considered God’s blessing bestowed upon devout and steadfast believers. When a female child is born, she is a disgrace to her family and a symbol of God’s wrath. Discrimination begins from the mother’s womb and presides over for a lifetime. As archaic of a practice female infanticide seems to be, it is still common in some parts of the world. In India, for example, it was found that 41 percent of the deaths of newborn girls were caused by female infanticide. In states like China, the one child policy has taken a toll on the life of female children. There, foeticide is a common practice among couples who want their only child to be male. Regrettably, many in Pakistan are also involved in this heinous crime. According to research conducted under Population Research Institute, over 1.2 million female foetuses were aborted in Pakistan in the years between 2000 and 2014. These figures are appalling. Sexual discrimination could reach no greater extent. The labels associated to women have clouded our vision. While females around the world are making inroads into economic markets, in the part of the world we live in, their lives are taken away even before they are born. Till when are we going to punish a woman for being woman?