The journey from the Womb to the Tomb

I am an Indian woman. And I am extremely glad to be alive.

Ten million girls have been wiped out in the last two decades in India. Unbelievable? May be. But nevertheless, run the number in your head a few times and let it sink in. 10,000,000. One followed by seven zeroes! How I WISH this wasn't true. But unfortunately it is. So, I should be thanking my lucky stars for being alive, shouldn't I? Hence, the beginning statement...

I am an Indian woman. And I am extremely glad to be alive.

Time and again, I always felt that the only mistake I’ve committed in my life is being born a woman. Since I am a woman, I’m a liability, I will not carry on the bloodline of the family (whatever the hell that means), I will not support my poor ailing parents when they are in the throes of their second childhood, and I am extremely ‘expensive’ (for want of a better word) because my poor parents probably had to shell out excessive amounts of dowry for their cow...ooops... daughter, and come to think of it I'll be better off as a man innit'?

Probably, those of you who know me and my background would think my above statement as an exaggeration. Ofcourse, my parents and my family are nice folks and they do not subscribe to the boorish views like the ones I have mentioned above (And no, they didn't have to pay any dowry to marry me off, and neither my husband and his family claimed any). BUT, to the majority of Indian women, educated or otherwise, the above statement would not be an exaggeration!

So what do you do, if you are faced with the errr........ 'burden' of giving birth to a girl? Pshaw! What an elementary question! Well, get rid of her of course! Use technology (foeticide) to discreetly do the deed if you belong to middle class families, or if you're not so lucky, give birth to the girl and then feed poison (infanticide) to the newborn baby! The dastardly deed is done!

So now that we have established that foeticide- http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1912/19120420.htm and infanticide-http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html ALONE has contributed to ten million girls being obliterated, and the sex ratio has successfully fallen steadily from 962 women to every 1000 boys in 1981, to 927 girls to every 1000 boys in 2002; has the horribly skewed sex ratio helped in actually improving the abhorrent status of women in India?

The answer is a big, fat, NO. Yet again, unscrupulous men are making a mockery of this gender disparity by trading women around as if they were commodities. Women are possessions remember? Now, the ever enterprising vermins in Haryana, where female foeticide and infanticide have reached unmitigated heights, are making use of the gender dissimilitude to propagate a thriving business in "sexual brides", and yes, you heard me right. Women are in great demand as the sex ratio in some parts of Haryana are as deplorable as 493 girls for every 1000 boys, so it is self-evident that a single woman can be bought and sold MANY times.

Case in point:

The story of Tanu *name changed*. Belonging to a poor family (in Haryana), AND being fairly goodlooking was her downfall. She was sold for a paltry five thousand rupees at the age of 16 to a dubious looking middle aged swine, who 'promised' to marry her. To no ones surprise, he raped her repeatedly and sold her for twenty thusand rupees and patted himself on the back for making a good 'profit'. But Tanu's horrific travails did not end there. Oh no it didnt. She was taken to Rajasthan where she was 'shared' between three brothers, and when she overheard one of them talking about selling her off yet again, she grew desperate and fled. But how far could a fleeing girl travel alone with no money or possessions, in a place alien to her?Not very far, as the impotent beasts ganged up on her, raped her, and beat her senselessly until her body resembled a bloody mass of flesh and bones.

Numerous other cases of "sexual brides" have been reported, and some of these girls are no older than fifteen. Sadly, this trafficking has not diminished albeit the demand for brides has only increased; resulting in smuggling girls, living in abject poverty ridden conditions to seemingly richer states like Punjab or Haryana where the sex ratio is conspicuously skewed.

And now do you finally see how female foeticide and infanticide is directly linked to the appalling business of trafficking "sexual brides"? If you still feign ignorance, please go crawl back under the rock you slithered out from.

And YOU, yes you, can do something about female foeticide.

You can file a complaint here ( http://www.indiafemalefoeticide.org/complaints.asp) if you come across any horrific incidents; without turning a blind eye, or you can pledge your support ( http://www.indiafemalefoeticide.org/pledge.htm)

I wish with all my heart, that this relentless slaying, yes slaying, of girls will become a thing of the past . But I cant aspire for the stars, can I?