Sex ratio in Karnataka declines as female foeticides are rampant, says minister Dinesh Gundurao; govt to tighten laws

The minister was speaking at the zero hour of the Assembly session.

His comments came in the wake of a recent female foeticide racket that was reported in Mandya and Mysuru districts where more than 13 people have been arrested. It may be noted that one more female foeticide case was reported in Bengaluru on Thursday.

“We are going to amend the existing Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) laws to make them more strict against female foeticide. We will also include the police department to tackle the issue. In some cases, we have found that the foeticide is carried out by doctors who are not certified and we will put our efforts to curb it,” he said.

The government will establish district-level Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT Act) cells across the state, he said. Additionally, a state-level task force dedicated to curbing foeticide will also be created.

“There is rampant sex selective practices in the state. In some places, the newborn female infants are fed rice to kill them as it blocks the windpipe. With the advancement of scanning technology, the sex determination is now done using small equipment which is of palm size. There are laws but we are going to strengthen them by introducing changes to them,” he mentioned.

On the challenges, he said, “the police presently have booked the accused under sections 316 (Causing death of quick unborn child by act amounting to culpable homicide) and 315 (Act done with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). Some of the accused also have got bail from the court. We need to look into it as well.”

To a question raised by Congress MLA Tanvir Sait, the minister said that from 2002 to 2023, 100 cases have been registered in connection with sex determination and female foeticide but fines have been imposed in only 15 cases.