A Man In India Cut Open His Pregnant Wife's Belly To Check The Unborn Baby's Gender
After five daughters, the man wanted a son, according to police.
By Sadho Ram — 26 Sep 2020, 11:06 AM
A man in northern India cut open his pregnant wife's stomach with a sickle because he wanted to check the gender of the unborn child
The woman is now critically ill and is fighting for her life in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital in New Delhi, the capital of India, according to a Thomson Reuters Foundation's report in HuffPost.
The attack, that happened last Saturday, 19 September, also caused the death of the unborn baby.
The woman's brother said that the attack took place because the husband wanted to check the baby's gender, which was revealed to be a boy. The couple has five daughters.
He attacked her with a sickle and ripped her stomach saying that he wanted to check the gender of the unborn child.
The baby was stillborn late on Sunday, 20 September
The stillborn baby was four-months-old.
According to a report in The Times Of India, the man carried out the attack after he was told by a priest that she was expecting another girl child, which would have been the sixth in a row.
The 43-year-old man, identified by only his first name Pannalal, attacked his wife, Anita Devi at their home in the Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh state, leaving her in a pool of blood.
Police have since arrested the Pannalal for an attempt to murder.
The accused has been remanded in custody after a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against him. The man has been booked under section 307 and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
After five daughters, Pannalal wanted a son, the police said
"My brother-in-law often used to beat my sister for giving birth to five daughters. Our parents had intervened on several occasions. But no one imagined that he would take such a cruel step," the brother said.
According to police, Pannalal was convinced by the words of the village priest that his wife was expecting another girl child. However, the unborn child's gender revealed that he was a boy.
In India, where dowries for marriage has given the perception that daughters are a burden, many families resort to aborting the female fetuses, a practice that is banned in the country.
Up to 12 million female foetuses were aborted in India in the previous three decades.
The preference for boys has led to a dwindling number of girls. There were 896 females between 2015 and 2017 per 1,000 males, according to a government survey released in July this year.
