There is mass abortion of baby girls among Indian women in Nairobi.
The problem is so widespread that a leading Nairobi hospital has banned ultra-scans to determine the sex of unborn babies for Indian mothers who say bringing up a girl “is like watering a neighbour’s garden.”
These risky terminations of pregnancy before term is fueled by gender disparity and traditional Indian beliefs, investigations by The Nairobian now reveal.
The huge cultural preference for boys, says sociologist Faith Nafula Atsango, “is mainly because of the enormous expenses involved in marrying off girls and paying elaborate dowries.”
Nafula adds that in 1996, India passed a law banning gender testing on a foetus as its patriarchal society has long been based on a simple need for male heirs, often at the expense of unborn females, who are widely seen as an economic burden.
Indeed, the abortion of female foetuses is common knowledge, and Indian parents expecting girls will readily abort.
-The Nairobian
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