Pari Titus Thesis

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TABLE OF CONTENT
Chapter I
Introduction 7
1 Statement of the Problem 10
2. Elaboration of the Problem 10
3. Hypothesis 12
4. Purpose 12
4.1. Research Objectives 13
4.2. Research Questions 13
5. Research Methodology 13
6. Limitations of the Study 17
7. Previous Research Study 17
Chapter II
Literature Review 19
Chapter III
Historical Background of Salem, Dhramapuri and Madurai. Districts of 29
Tanilnadu
1. Major Demographic Trends in India 30
1.1. The sex composition in India 31
1.2. The life expectancy in India 31
1.3. The birth and death rate in India 32
2. Major Demographic Trends in Tamilnadu 33
2.1. The demographic desegregation at the State level. 33
2.2. The demographic desegregation at the District level 33
2.3. Population trend in Tamilnadu. 35
3. Status of Human Development in Tamilnadu 37
3.1. Status of Employment, Income and Poverty in Tamilnadu 37
3.2. Status of Health and Nutrition in Tamilnadu 39
3.3. Status of Literacy and Education in Tamilnadu 40
4. Historical background of Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai Districts 41
4.1. Historical background of Salem District 41
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4.2. Historical background of Dharmapuri District 44

4.3. Historical background of Madurai District 46
Summary 48
Chapter IV
History, Methods and Impacts of Female Infanticide in Salem, 50
Dharmapuri and Madurai Districts of Tamilnadu
1. Historical Overview of Female infanticide 51
1.1. Female infanticide in India 53
1.2. Female infanticide in Tamilnadu 58
2. Methods of Female Infanticide 64
2.1 Pesticides method 65
2.2. Milk of calatropy method 65
2.3. Paddy husk method 66
2.4. Chicken soup method 66
2.5. Salt water method 66
2.6. Wet cloth method 66
3. People Behind the Female Infanticide 67
3.1. Mother-in-laws 67
3.2. Dais or local unqualified Nurses. 67
3.3. Elders in the Family 68
4. Impacts of Female Infanticide 68
4.1 Psychological impact 69
4.2. Social impact 69
4.3. Impact on health 70
4.4. Impact on Sex ratio 70
4.5. Impact on the mother 70
Summary 71
Chapter V
Religious, Cultural, Economic and Social reasons for Female Infanticide 73
in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai Districts of Tamilnadu.
1. Religious Reasons for Female Infanticide 74
1.1. Female infanticide in Hinduism 74

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1.2. Female infanticide in Islam 77

2 Cultural Reasons for Female Infanticide 81
2.1. The roots of gender bias and son preference 82
2.2. Male centered values system 83
3. Economic Reasons for Female Infanticide 84
3.1. Dowry as an economic reason for female infanticide 84
3.2. Poverty as an economic reason for female infanticide 88
4. Social Reasons for Female Infanticide 92
Low status of women and female infanticide 94
Caste and female infanticide 95
Summary 98
Chapter VI
Analysis and Interpretations of the research findings on Female 99
Infanticide in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai Districts of Tamilnadu
1. Analysis of the reasons for Female Infanticide. 99
1.1 Property rights and legal heir 99
1.2. Dowry 99
1.3. Protective entanglement for girl child 100
1.4. The desire to carry on the family tree 100
1.5. A male child to carry on the rituals 101
1.6. Any number of male children but only one girl child 101
1.7. Infanticide as family planning measure 101
1.8. Anti-female bias 102
1.9. Astrological predictions 102
2. Thematic analysis on the findings from the field survey 103
2.1. Reasons for the preferred children 103
2.2. Practice of prenatal sex determination 103
2.3. Causes of female infanticide and feticide 105
3. Interpretations of the reasons for Female Infanticide 106
3.1. Need for collective action 106
3.2. Correct the misunderstanding on family planning 107
3.3. Networking with the health department personals 108

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4. Principles in developing the patterns for partnership in mission 110

Summary 115
Chapter VII
Strategies to prevent and control the practice of Female Infanticide in 118
Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai Districts of Tamilnadu.
1. Strategies in preventing Female Infanticide 119
1.1. Preventions of female infanticide 119
1.2. Long-term Strategies in preventing female infanticide 124
1.3. Monitoring the effectiveness of the strategies 128
1.4. Legal assistance to the victims of female infanticide 131
2. Strategies in controlling Female Infanticide 132
2.1. Attitude change and public participation 133
2.2. Promoting Adoption 134
2.3. Provide Counseling to control female infanticide 135
3. Intervention plans to prevent and control Female Infanticide 136
3.1. Individual interventions plans 136
3.2. Group intervention plans 136
3.3. Social intervention plans 138
3.4. Administrative intervention plans. 140
3.5. Legal intervention plans 142
3.6. Economic Intervention plans 144
4 The Media impact in preventing and controlling Female Infanticide 152
4.1. Documentary films on female infanticide 152
4.2. Tamil Cinema on female infanticide 154
4.3. Street Theater on female infanticide 155
Summary 160
Chapter VIII
The Contributions of the Governmental and the Non Governmental 162
Organizations for the care of the children in Salem, Dharmapuri and
Madurai Districts of Tamilnadu
1. The contributions of the Government for the care of the children 164
1.1. The 'Cradle Baby' scheme and the 'Girl Child Protection' scheme

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1.2. Bhagya Lakshmi scheme 166

1.3. DANIDA and TNAHCP scheme 166
1.4. Kallar Reclamation scheme 167
2. The contributions of the NGOs to Female Infanticide 168
2.1. Interventions by NG0s 168
2.2. Limitations of the NGOs interventions 169
2.3. Society for Integrated Social Upliftmnet (SISU) on female infanticide 170
2.4. Bethel Agricultural Fellowship (BAF) on female infanticide 174
3. Challenges in education for Female Infanticide 177
3.1. Female education and infant mortality 177
3.2. Improvements in literacy levels 179
3.3. Barriers in education 180
3.4. Gender bias in curriculum 180
4. Legal challenges to Female Infanticide 182
4.1. Laws and policies affecting women 183
4.2. Law on Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques 184
Summary 185
Chapter IX
Biblical Perspectives on Creation, Abortion, Infanticide, Family 187
and Mission
1. Biblical perspectives on Creation 187
1.1. Image of God and Human beings 188
1.2. Image of God and Children 193
1.3. Implications of Creation for female infanticide 195
2. Biblical perspectives on Abortion 196
2.1. Biblical perspectives on Abortion 197
2.2. The Status of the Unborn 200
2.3. Abortion and the Christian Church 203
3. Biblical Perspectives on Infanticide and Euthanasia 207
3.1. God is the giver, sustainer, and receiver of human life 207
3.2. All human life is precious to God 208
3.3. All human life is worthy to live 208

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4. Biblical perspectives on Family 209

4.1. Old Testament perspective on Family 210
4.2. New Testament perspective on Family 212
5. Biblical Perspectives of Mission 213
Summary 216
Chapter X
The Contributions of the Missions for the care of the children in Salem, 220
1. The Contributions of the Christian Missions to the child care in Salem, 220
1.1. London Mission Society (LMS) Mission in Salem and Dharmapuri Districts 220
1.2. Diocesan Missionary Prayer Band in Salem and Dharmapuri Districts 223
1.3. Christian Mission to the Kallar people group in Madurai District 226
2. Mission of the Church for Children at risk of Female Infanticide 229
2.1. Mission as protecting and healing the victims of female infanticide 232
2.2. Mission as effective presence to the victims of female infanticide 233
2.3. Mission as defending the rights of the victims of female infanticide 234
2.4. Mission as caring for the victims of female infanticide 235
2.5. Mission as active participation for the victims of female infanticide 235
3. Mission of the Local Christians to the challenges of Female Infanticide 239
3.1. A Prophetic role of the Christians to the challenges of female infanticide 240
3.2. A new social order to the challenges of female infanticide 241
3.3. Renewal of ministries to the challenges of female infanticide 241
3.4. New forms of ministries to the challenges of female infanticide 242
3.5. Networking with other groups to the challenges of female infanticide 242
Summary 243
Conclusion 245
Bibliography 255
Appendix 266
Case Studies 277
Interview Questionnaire 296

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Chapter I
Introduction
Female infanticide, the prevalent form of sex-selective infanticide, is the systematic and
deliberate killing of girls at birth or soon after birth. It normally occurs when a society
values male children to the point that producing a female is considered shameful. The
context which promotes son preference, discrimination against daughters and sex
determination (SD) both at pre-conception and the ante-natal stage can have only one
meaning which is female infanticide. The neglect of girls amounts to indirect infanticide.
The progress of science and technology has led to an increasing discrepancy between the
male and female populations in the country.
Female infanticide cuts across all social and economic boundaries. In rural areas the lack
of education, economic resources, and access to healthcare are major factors that lead to
the massacre of infant girls. In urban areas, selective abortion is commonly employed by
individuals with access to modern medical technology that allows for early detection of
sex. Unfortunately, although Government programs and human rights organizations strive
to put an end to these practices, female infanticide continues.
The present study aims to look at the contemporary challenges of female infanticide in the
Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu and its implications for Christian
mission. The first chapter will state the statement and elaboration of the problem, the
purpose with research objectives, questions and methodology of this study. The chapter
also lists the previous research studies on the subject. The second chapter will give the
review of a few major recent literature and research studies on the subject. The third
chapter in understanding the context of this challenge will explain the major demographic
trends such as population, sex composition, life expectancy, birth and death rate in India

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and in Tamilnadu. The status of human development in relation to employment, poverty,
health and education will be presented with a brief historical sketch of the three districts in
Tamilnadu.
The fourth chapter aims to focus the attention to study the history, patterns and the impact
of female infanticide. The historical section of the study will present a brief overview of
the history of female infanticide both in India and in Tamilnadu. This chapter will explain
various popular methods and key people behind the practice of female infanticides. The
psychological, social, sex ratio and health impact of the practice will be explained at the
end to better understand the rational behind the practice.
The fifth chapter will introduce the religious reasons from Hinduism and Islam; cultural
reasons such as son preference and a male centered value system; economic reasons such
as poverty and dowry; social reasons such as low status of women and the caste system.
The field research findings on female infanticide in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai
districts will be analyzed and interpreted in the sixth chapter. This chapter will also lay
down the principles of developing the strategies for partnership in holistic mission to the
challenges of female infanticide.
The seventh chapter will continue stating the strategies to prevent and control female
infanticide. This section will focus on the relief and rehabilitation along with long-term
strategies. The individual and group intervention plans will be studied and the impacts of
the media such as the street theater like Kalaipayanam and the cinema such as
Karuthamma will be presented to develop the partnership in holistic mission.
The eighth chapter will study the contributions of the Government and Non-Governmental
organizations for the care of children in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of
Tamilnadu. This chapter will present the contributions of the Government such as the

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“Cradle Baby Scheme” and “Kallar Reclamation Scheme”along with the NGOs
intervention plans with special reference to “Society of Integrated Social Upliftment “
(SISU) in Madurai district and “Bethel Agricultural Fellowship” (BAF) in Salem and
Dharmapuri districts.
In chapter nine, all these sociological concepts and findings of the study will be seen in the
biblical reference to creation, abortion, infanticide, family and mission to develop the
missiological implications for the holistic mission partnership. The final chapter will study
the contributions of the missions for the care of the children in Salem, Dharmapuri and
Madurai districts. The missiological implications raised in the study for partnership to
holistic mission will be summed up in this chapter.
A study conducted in three districts of Tamilnadu will uncover some essential aspects of
female infanticide. This research combines the techniques from sociology (interviews with
direct and indirect respondents) and critical demography (the analysis of existing
population data). The thesis makes a significant departure from previous sociological
studies on female infanticide in Tamilnadu and will look at the issue from the
missiological perspective.
The Declaration of 1990 as the SAARC Year of the Girl Child and the decade as the
SAARC Decade of the Girl Child has helped in highlighting the multiple problems and
discrimination faced by the girl child. The National Foundation for India is focusing on
this much neglected issue and the grant-making has concentrated its support in this area. It
is the high time for the mission to promote partnership in holistic mission to the challenges
of female infanticide.

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Female infanticide in Tamilnadu, South India, has recently received widespread attention
within India and abroad (1985-2005).1 Since then, the print media, films 2, programs, and
projects both by governmental and non-governmental organizations have geared to address
this challenge. This research is based on over a decade of field-work and study of this
phenomenon, and information gathered from NGOs, activists and officials. It discusses the
recent history of the practice of female infanticide, and the circumstances that forced the
state government to acknowledge its existence in 1992. The Programs by the state
Government and the Non-Governmental Organizations such as the “Cradle Baby Scheme”,
“Girl Child Protection Scheme” and the contributions of the mission to the practice of
female infanticide are critically reviewed. The study also draws missiological implications
in developing holistic mission partnership.
1. Statement of the Problem
In the light of the conceptual, sociological framework and of a biblical understanding of
family, abortion, and children; and the growing understanding of the holistic mission, there
is a need to identify the social, economic, cultural and religious challenges of female
infanticide in Tamilnadu. With this focus, one can work on developing possible
partnerships and identify the implications for Christian mission.
2. Elaboration of the Problem
Girl children in India have been the most vulnerable for centuries and even today they are
vulnerable to the insults of deprivation and discrimination. Mankind was given natural
reproductive laws for balancing sex ratios. These biological laws have been taken away by
1
The first major reporting of female infanticide in Tamilnadu appeared in the popular press. S. H.
Venkatramani, India Today, June 15, 1986. This report dealt with incidences of female infanticide in
Madurai District, and focused upon a particular community in rural Madurai. Several years later, in 1992,
female infanticide was reported from Salem District, which had figured in the 1986 report (Viji Srinivasan,
Frontline, 1992; Asha Krishnakumar, Frontline, 1992).
2
Tamil film “Karuthamma” by director Bharathiraja and many documentary films by the government and the
NGOs are an attempt to create the awareness of female infanticide.

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man made laws, customs, traditions, religious beliefs and sophisticated medical
technology, resulting in the lower status of females in society.
It is agonizing to know that gender bias, deep-rooted prejudice and discrimination against
girl children, which has existed for centuries, is now found to begin in the womb. The
female fetus faces the peril of pre-birth elimination, female feticide. If the female fetus is
lucky enough to survive until her birth then she is faced with the peril of elimination in
infancy by female infanticide.
Historically, female infanticide has existed for a long time. It is known that girl infants
were killed by rubbing poison on the mother’s breast, by being fed with the milk of
errukam flowers and paddy grains, by being given sleeping tablets, or by simply being
buried alive. Law banned this practice in 1870, more than a century ago. Yet this abuse of
girl children, which is a violation of her human right to life, continues to prevail not only in
some parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, but it has also recently been found in some districts
of Tamilnadu. Female Infanticide in Tamilnadu, South India, has recently received
widespread attention within India and abroad.
From the perspective of missions, particularly in the Evangelical world, we have lately
observed the mushrooming of holistic mission projects with an indispensable social
component. The inevitable response to the worsening social conditions that have created
many victims presents a new challenge to Christian compassion. In the coming century
Christian compassion will be the only hope of survival for victims of the global economic
process.
Sociological studies of Christianity in the 1960's and 70's were usually hostile towards
churches. Today the scenario has changed. As we acknowledge the problems generated by
the current economic system, sociologists have come to see churches as the source of hope.

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Hence, this research looks into the development of a holistic mission (focusing on the
social dimension of the Gospel). The main thesis of the study is to present the possible
Christian and church responses to the challenges of female infanticide in India.
3. Hypothesis
Child labor, female infanticide and HIV/AIDS are the major challenges to the Christian
mission of transforming the society. The transforming power of the gospel needs to
address these challenges. There are many holistic mission projects in which a social
component becomes indispensable. Mission projects of this kind are not just the result of a
new awareness among Christians about a biblically based social responsibility; but they are
also the inevitable responses to worsening social conditions that have created many
victims, becoming a new challenge to Christian compassion. . This research will prove
this hypothesis.
4. Purpose
The purpose of this research is to prove the female infanticide hypothesis, to discover and
identify the socio-economic challenges to mission with special reference to female
infanticide in Tamilnadu and to present the conceptual guidelines in meeting the need in
the mission of the church.
4.1. Research Objectives
1. To study the socio-economic, cultural and religious context and causes for female
infanticide in Tamilnadu.
2. To study the biblical understanding of creation, abortion, and family
3. To study the patterns and methods of the Christian mission and NGOs towards the care
of children in Madurai, Salem and Dharmapuri

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4. To present the conceptual guidelines on the impact of female infanticide on parents,
family members and society in meeting the need in the mission of the church
4.2. Research Questions
1. What are the socio-economic, religious, and cultural reasons of selected districts in
Tamilnadu and their contributions to female infanticide?
2. What is the biblical teaching on creation, abortion, and family?
3. What are the contributions of Christian Mission, and the Government and NGOs to the
care of children in, Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai?
4. What are the various methods and results of female infanticide in India particularly in
Tamilnadu?
5. What can be the impact of female infanticide on parents, family members and society
in meeting the need in the mission of the church?
5. Research Methodology
The missiological implications of the cultural and religious challenges of female
infanticide need to go beyond “ethnocentrism" and "relativism". Indian society has been
multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, multi-religious and multi-racial for ages. In spite of her
history and multifarious traditions, powerful social movements are now emerging with the
goal to impose a mono-cultural Hindu identity on India. Anyone who does not subscribe to
the vision of the Hindutva ideology is considered an enemy of the nation.
Scholarship in the 19th and the early 20th centuries was often dominated by
"ethnocentrism.” This approach to mission called "The Ethnocentric Model of Mission
Work” contains elements of paternalism and racism. With the rise of anthropology as a
professional science, however, many began to view the still popular attitude of
ethnocentrism with revolt and developed an insider’s view of culture.

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Hence, today there is an urgent need to go beyond "ethnocentrism" and "relativism" in
Christian theology and missiology. The strategy of going beyond ethnocentrism and
relativism should be adapted in the process of partnership in the Christian mission in the
twenty-first century.
The confusion that cultural and religious relativism has caused may be overcome within
the confines of the theistic worldview of Christianity. Promoting this fact and these values
to mankind will always be the ultimate goal of a Christian mission.
Christian mission is not to submit to the general enthusiasm to attack one fundamentalism
with another challenging fundamentalism. It is not to respond to Hindu fundamentalism
with Christian fundamentalism, rather fundamentally we have to have new approaches. In
the context of a pluralistic society, the traditional exclusive approach is not advisable;
rather Christians must use the inclusive approach in their mission.
Religious freedom and tolerance should allow for peaceful competition among religions
for the hearts and souls of humankind. This enables a Christian to have positive attitude
towards people of other religions3 and develop partnerships in mission to meet the
The missiological theory for the challenges of female infanticide calls for reconstructing
the Christian Mission from an ecclesiological center to a people-centered mission.
Christian missions as witness to God's mission needs to be understood from the
perspectives of creation and incarnation. The gospel is expressed through a dynamic
participation in the suffering of people, in identifying oneself with the oppressed. A
dynamic action of participation and identification is an action of liberation to restore to
3
Use of the word "Faith" to refer to other religions confuses the uniqueness of the Christian experience of
salvation through faith in Christ. "Religion" is a more accurate term to refer to belief systems whose
outworking is not transforming faith in Christ.

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human beings the divine image and bring to the world the Kingdom of God. Thus,
Christian mission has to move from its traditional position of an ecclesiological centered
mission, even from the so called "Christ-centered" mission which centers on the person of
Jesus rather than in the ministry of Christ, to a new scene, to reconstruct a Christian
mission from people's lives, their cries and agony.
People, especially the suffering, poor people, are the subject of the Christian mission, the
subject of Gospel and Christian theology. The Ecumenical Movement of Christian mission
and Christian theology should not remain in the conceptual debate of "Gospel and Culture"
or in the differentiation between "Christians" and "pagan", but should be a movement to
encounter all human beings in their daily life. The kerygma, koinonia, and diakonia can be
held in creative inter-relationship in mission.
The researcher is using qualitative research as the methodology of study that produces
descriptive data in approaching the empirical world. Missiological study is by nature
integrative in its methodological approach; therefore qualitative methodology is employed
as one of the many options. In integrating the methodology of social sciences with
missiological study, there is an understanding of the religious, socio-economic and cultural
aspects of a people group in relationship to female infanticide in order to better proclaim
Christ to and among them so that they become Christ's disciples.
In this case, ethno-historical research and ethnographic study are helpful in knowing the
culture of the target group. This may in turn require field research, the use of participant
observation method to collect data, and the subsequent data analysis. In doing so, the
researcher is making use of the methodology and techniques of a qualitative study.
The purpose of using the qualitative research is to acquire understanding of a subject
matter from a subjective aspect at a personal or collective level, (for example the motives

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and beliefs of an individual or a group behind female infanticide), or from an objective
aspect at a personal or collective level, (for example the behavioral pattern of an individual
or a group for female infanticide). Specifically, qualitative or observational research has
often been employed in this study to enhance the understanding of female infanticide. This
study also adopts a quantitative research methodology with the purpose of testing the
theoretically conceived unacceptable hypothesis against the facts of reality.
It is a disgrace to the Indian society that many consider the birth of a girl child a bad
investment in the future. A female is considered to be a consumer rather than a producer,
and this narrow viewpoint of the Indian patriarchal society has lead to horrid practices like
female infanticide and female feticide. The present study will be conducted in Salem,
Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu. These districts have the lowest sex ratios
of the State. For the study, 250 indirect respondents (social workers, NGOs, health
workers, doctors, evangelists, pastors, local churches and voluntary workers), 120 direct
respondents (those who were helped to save their girl babies) are taken from three districts
of Tamilnadu.
The respondents are divided equally into farming and non-farming households. The blocks
are selected randomly from each district. The respondent is usually the female head of the
family. The data regarding the present study were collected by conducting personal
interviews (to the indirect respondent’s) as well as buried questionnaire technique (to the
direct respondents).
The study deals with oppressed people whose interest is not being served by the current
thrust of the challenges in mission. The nature of the study is exploratory. This research
study will help in the author’s field (Bethel Ministries) of Christian mission and will
contribute to build partnerships with other missions and NGOs in transforming the society.

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Earlier research attempts were made in understanding female infanticide and the present
study focuses on the missiological perspective of this challenge. Once empirical research is
done on the socio-economic cultural issues, it opens a way for further research on related
disciplines. Cultural, historical, sociological, and missiological studies may take advantage
of this study using the data gathered.
6. Limitations of the Study
The main geographic focus of this study is in Salem and Dharmapuri districts of
Tamilnadu (also called Kongu Mandalam or Kongu Nadu). However, insights and
information are drawn from other parts of Tamilnadu, with special reference to
Usillampatti, in Madurai district, and other states are referred to for a greater
understanding of the issues. The field research is limited to Salem, Dharmapuri and
Madurai districts of Tamilnadu. The study will refer to materials available in English and
Tamil.
7. Previous Research Study
Secular media have published reports and articles on female infanticide. A few research
attempts were made towards the MSW and Ph.D. degrees. For example:
7.1. Velmayil, C. “Female infanticide in the selected districts of Tamilnadu”, Ph.D. Thesis
in the Department of Home Science Extension of Avinashilingam Deemed University,
Coimbatore, 1996.
7.2. Muthulakshmi. “A study on the practice of Female Infanticide in two selected villages
of Tamilnadu and the role of Adult education in eliminating the problem.” Ph.D. Thesis in
the Department of Sociology, of Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 1993.

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7.3. Selvakumar, J. “A Critical Study on the Female Children rescued from Female
Infanticide in Kadayampatti block of Salem district” MSW thesis to Bharathidasan
University, Trichy, 2002.
7.4. Amala Das K. “A Study on the attitude of mothers towards female Child and female
Infanticide”, MSW project work to Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore, 2002.
7.5. Kavitha, J. “ A study on the impact of Female Infanticide Prevention Project (FIPP) of
Society for Integrated Social Upliftment (SISU), in the advancement of women in Kallar
community, Chellampatti block, Usillampatti Talk, Madurai District.” M.A. in Sociology
project work at American college, for Madurai Kamaraj University, 2002.
7.6. Tamilarasi, B. “A Study on the Causative Factors of Female Infanticide in
Usillampatti”, MSW project work at American college, for Madurai Kamaraj University,
2001.
7.7. Munisweri, S. “A Study on Female Infanticide in selected Villages of Usillampatti”,
MSW project thesis in the Department of Home Science Extension of Avinashilingam
Deemed University, Coimbatore, 1993.
These studies are from sociological dimensions and therefore the major findings of such
studies present the facts and address the challenges from a sociological perspective. These
research studies and articles provide statistical information, but fresh field studies needs to
be done to update those statistics. Sociological studies have made significant contributions
and the following chapter will make a literature review of the works related to female
infanticide.

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Chapter II
Literature Review
The sociological studies have made many attempts to understand female infanticide and
contributed much literature on the subject. This section attempts to review major literature
on the theme in relation to the field of missiolology.
According to the survey done by Chunkath and others, the occurrence of female infanticide
is widespread among the poorer and socially disadvantaged community including the
thevars, vaniyars and scheduled castes. In contrast, in 1992 Adithi and Community
Services Guild mentioned that several communities, including the wealthy Gounder
community, the land owning caste in Salem district, Tamilnadu, also practice female
infanticide. The data that Chunkath and others analyzed confirms that the practice of
female infanticide is widespread in Salem Dharmapuri and Madurai Districts.4 The study
done by George and others in 1992, revealed the fact that female infanticide cuts across
caste and economic barriers5.
In 1995 Agnihotri worked out a statistical formula for disaggregating the ‘missing females’
in the overall population of the country and computed the missing females in a
demographic analysis based on sex ratio6. Miller categorizes infanticide as a fatal form of
4
Sheela Rani Chunkath and Venkatesh Athreya have reported on direct evidence from sample household
surveys done by Directorate of Public Health, 1996 and PHC records and they also draw evidence on field
level interviews and on responses to a questionnaire on female infanticide from nearly 3,000 respondents in
1994-95.
5
Sabu George, Rajaratnam Abel and B.D.Miller carried out their research in 12 villages of K.V.Kuppam
block, North Arcot Ambedkar District, Tamil Nadu State, South India, for four years beginning in September
1986. All pregnancies in the 13,000 population during this period were followed. After about five months
following the establishment of excellent rapport with the study families, the field team had knowledge of the
intent of infanticide even before the birth occurred in many cases.
6
The sample consisted, for each revenue district, involving a population of around two lakhs per district. In
the state as a whole (with totally urban Chennai being excluded), a total of 960. Questionnaires seeking
information on live births, Stillbirths and infant deaths in the households during the calendar year 1995 were
canvassed with 1037,630 households. The total population covered was 44,97,086. The survey was carried
out by functionaries of the department of public health who cross matched the demographic events netted by
them in the field with the records of the village health nurses (VHNs), workers of the Integrated Child
Development Services (ICDS), and village administrative officers (VAOs).

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child abuse. Sociologists cite that modernization, dowry and the fear of sexual abuse of
the girl child are the cause of female infanticide. Harris White cited poverty as one of the
reasons for female infanticide. George and others also observed maternal motivation in
their study as a factor affecting infanticide. Psychopathologists have also tried to analyze
why people kill new-born girl children.7
From the experiences of sociologists and others8 who have researched this issue, it is clear
that there is a social sanction to the deed. Familial and social situations seem to outweigh
personal reactions and therefore women opt to kill their newborn girl children. The Indian
Council for Child Welfare (ICCW) in Tamilnadu mentioned that the feeling of guilt and
trauma is almost absent in the community that carry outs this practice, although there is
grief among the mothers. Social pressures play a vital role in bringing about changes in
society for the better or worse situations.
Some of the other findings in the survey conducted by George and others in 1989 show
that villages that practice female infanticide tend to be more remote and have fewer
educated people than villages that do not practice infanticide. Another reason cited for
infanticide is a lack of scanning centers. In the recent past, even in the so-called remote,
less-developed areas, scanning centers exist. Although it may be true in some cases, one
cannot generalize whether remoteness of the village, education of the people, or lack of
scanning centers have any correlation with the occurrence of female infanticide.
K.S. Sunanda, Girl Child Born to Die in Killing Fields. Madras: Alternate for India
Development, 1995. The book is in five parts. The first part deals with the historical
7
There are three theories to explain the psychopathology of female infanticide and to understand the
motivation factor behind the act of female infanticide, 1) Frustration - Aggression hypothesis, 2) Learned
Helplessness hypothesis, 3) Attribution theory. Community based epidemiological studies in the future, using
standardized psycho-social evaluative scales are probably one answer to analyze this problem
8
Marvin Kohl,. Infanticide and the Value of Life, NY:Prometheus Books, 1978. Barbara Miller, The
endangered sex: Neglect of female children in rural North India. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1981.

P 21
perspectives, case studies of the parents and relatives who were directly caught up in
female infanticide. Second part looks at the parents who have taken it as a challenge, even
under community pressure, to nurture the girl child. The third part cases analysis of the
surveyed respondents’ answers and the last two parts focus on gaps in policies to the
The National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) made a
research attempt in 2004. The main objectives of this attempt were to study the Mother and
Child Welfare Project (MCWP) run by ICCW, Tamilnadu, with a focus on collecting first
hand experience and information about the project on Female Infanticide, and identify
reasons for success or failures of the activities of the project9. It also sought to document
the activities as a case study for use in training programs, and to understand the ways and
means adopted to promote the survival, growth and development of the girl child from
conception to birth and at subsequent stages of life. This research study recommends that
all girls go to school. The need of the hour is to change the “mind set” prevailing in the
society.
Larry, S. Milner, Hardness of Heart, Hardness of Life: The Stain of Human Infanticide,
SPI Publications, 1998. In order to educate the public on the need to understand the
reasons why parents have so often resorted to murdering their offspring, Dr. Larry Milner
founded the Society for the Prevention of Infanticide (SPI) in 1994. The mission of the
Society for the Prevention of Infanticide (SPI) is to educate the public on the history and
current custom of infanticide in order to promote its prevention through continued research
and scholarship. Milner is a physician engaged in the private practice of internal medicine,
hematology, and oncology. Milner began researching the topic of infanticide over ten years
9
K.S. Sunada, Born to Die: A Case study on female infanticide in Usilampatti district, Tamilnadu. New
Delhi:,NIPCCD,2004. p. 38.

P 22
ago. As he pursued his research effort, the totality of this epidemic throughout history
began to unfold. Milner was so moved by the information he was discovering, he felt
compelled to write. His book, Hardness of Heart, Hardness of Life, is the definitive study
of the subject of infanticide. This book is one of the primary avenues of achieving SPI's
mission.
In a well researched book, Female Infanticide and Foeticide: A Legal Perspective, three
students of the National Law School in Bangalore, A. Radhakrishnan, S. Alam and D.
Kapur, point out that the reason why the law has proved ineffective is because it is difficult
to regulate all clinics that use ultrasound for sex determination as well as for a host of other
purposes. Because tests such as amniocentesis, chorine biopsy, and ultrasound have been
allowed by the law for purposes of detecting genetic abnormalities in the fetus, they cannot
be banned.
While the law sought to punish sex determination, it is rendered ineffective because of the
liberal PNDT Act that allows abortion on the ground of mental trauma. The law clearly
states that, "no human being can take the life of another human being." The three students
point out that, morally speaking, killing a fetus is not the same as killing an infant. Legally,
killing an infant amounts to homicide while killing a fetus does not. It also raises further
questions of whether a mother has the legal right to kill a fetus. Worse still, the Act does
not provide for third party vigilance, which means that besides the doctor and the mother,
other complainants are not entertained. This has been one of the major reasons that there
have not been any convictions to date. The next question that the law has no answer to is:
who should be punished the mother, husband, relatives or the doctor?
May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons by Elisabeth Bumiller was first published in
1990. The book covers a wide range of topics like arranged marriage, bride burning, sati,

P 23
infanticide, health conditions of women and population control. The author was impressed
by Katherine Mayo’s Mother India (1927), a work highly critical of the situation of women
in India. In the latter part of her work, however, she shows sensitivity to the complexity
and contradictions of Indian society. The author’s negative biases supported by ‘unformed’
feminist opinions, as she calls it, make the way for many controversial judgments.
The book is primarily a journalist’s research work and is nowhere near a rigorous
ethnography, but it gives several insights to researchers. In terms of methodological rigor
it falls short of an academic work, but its theoretical sampling is appreciable.
Venkatesh Atheriya’s work, Role of gender in health disparity: the South Asian context,
explains that gender discrimination at each stage of the female life cycle contributes to
health disparity, sex selective abortions, neglect of girl children, reproductive mortality,
and poor access to health care for girls and women. The book recommends that policy
makers, program managers, health professionals, and human rights workers in South Asia
need to be aware of and responsive to the detrimental health effects that gender plays
throughout the life cycle.
Discrimination Against The Girl Child: Female Infanticide, Female Genital Cutting And
Honor Killing by Katherin S. Newell describes the practices that rob girl children of
control over their persons and, in some instances, rob them of their very lives. It examines
the cultural and practical motivations behind female infanticide, female genital cutting and
honor killing and explores what is being done to put an end to these human rights abuses.
Death by Fire: Sati, Dowry Death, and Female Infanticide in Modern India by Mala Sen
(Published by the Rutgers University Press in 2002) explain the author’s involvement in
three `case stories' (sati, dowry and female infanticide). The study contains neither an in-

P 24
depth nor more than subjective treatment of the overvalued subjects, nor does the narrative
establish a clear context of `modern' India.
Mala Sen has done some great work in researching and documentation for this book., The
book explores the reality of life and death for women in modern India in an illuminating
and terrifying study. Sen enters into the worlds of three women: a goddess, a burned bride
and a woman accused of killing her daughter. The author shows how, in this society in
which ancient and modern apparently co-exist comfortably, there increasingly is real cause
for alarm. She describes a state in which political turmoil is constantly at the surface and in
which the role of women is constantly being redefined.

10
.Abortion in the Developing World , This book contains twenty-five chapters in four
sections. All the papers, except for the introduction and the last two, which reflect upon the
methodological issues and policy implications, deal with the social psychological
dimensions of induced abortion.
Ramrio Molina suggests that the identification of women at abortion risk, followed by
suitable intervention in terms of providing contraceptives, may reduce the incidence of
induced abortions. The other study by Gui Shi-xun on married women in Shanghai, China,
concluded that changing the family planning program can bring about a striking change in
the reliance of women on such program services. Given the fact that abortion remains a
contraceptive choice for women in different settings, a set of papers addressed the issue of
the quality of abortion care with special focus on its associated risks and post-abortion
counseling mechanisms. On the whole, results compiled in this book from varied settings
serve as an eye opener regarding the impact of abortion on the health of women.
10
Axel, I. Mundigo and Cynthia Indriso (eds). Abortion in the Developing World, New Delhi: Sage
Publications India, 1998.

P 25
11
The Bare Branches represents a new approach to thinking about the implications of
surplus male population. The authors draw from life sciences to reveal historical patterns
that other scholars have missed. They present comprehensive data on sex ratios and
fascinating historical studies of social instability brought on by excess young males. What
happens to a society that has too many men? In this provocative book, Valerie Hudson and
Andrea den Boer argue, that though both historical and contemporary analyzes show that
in societies where women have low status, peaceful democracies are far less likely to take
hold.
The book further suggests that the sex ratios of many Asian countries, particularly China
and India, are being tilted in favor of males on a scale that may be unprecedented in human
history. Through sex selection these countries are acquiring a disproportionate number of
low-status young adult males, called "bare branches" by the Chinese.
The authors argue that this surplus male population in Asia's largest countries threatens
domestic stability and international security. The prospects for peace and democracy are
dimmed by the growth of bare branches in China and India, and, they maintain, the sex
ratios of these countries will have global implications in the twenty-first century. These
cultural forces have resulted to sex selective abortions, infanticide, and infant-
abandonment resulting in bare branches.
The book describes the causes of the high sex ratio in China and India and observes effects
and future implications. The implications that seem to have the highest probability of
success are: the abolition of the one child policy, government care of abandoned girls to
adulthood, government safety nets for the elderly to decrease financial reliance on sons,
and policies that elevate the value of women.
11
Valerie M. Hudson, Andrea M. DenBoer, Bare Branches: The Security Implications of Asia's Surplus Male
Population. MI: MIT Press, 2005

P 26
12
The Applications of the BAM model to the problem of female infanticide , study uses the
Bidirectional Associative Memories (BAM) model to analyze the cause of female
infanticide in India. The rational for the model is that the cause of female infanticide
cannot be pinpointed for a particular reason. The authors, by the adoption of the general
fuzzy theory and in particular to neural networks (since the data is an unsupervised one),
analyzed the problem to result in a better solution. The studies apply the Bidirectional
Associative Memories (BAM) to the problem of female infanticide by taking the opinion
of three experts and derive the fixed points.
The study on the, Female Infanticide in India: A Feminist Cultural History,13 examines the
female infanticide in colonial and postcolonial India. The main thesis of the book is that
female infanticide in India is a theoretical and discursive intervention in the field of
postcolonial feminist theory. The authors argue that feticide is seen as part of the
continuum of violence on, and devaluation of, the postcolonial girl-child and woman. The
book closely examines the British-colonial history of the discovery, reform, and
eradication of the practice of female infanticide. Contemporary tactics of resistance are
offered in the closing chapters.
The research embodied in this book is substantial and the approach is marked by a strong
and passionate commitment to feminist theory. It is a book that combines a sophisticated
theoretical and empirical discussion of female infanticide in India.
This thoroughly researched book of, Matters of Life and Death14 presents a credible and
challenging Christian response to the ethical minefields that face us. The author begins
with an exposition of the most important current influences on bioethical thinking,
12
W.B.Vasantha Kandasamy and Anitha, Applications of the BAM model to the problem of female
infanticide, Pune: Pune University, 2000.
13
Rashmi Dube Bhatnagar, Renu Dube, and Reena Dube Rashmi Dube Bhatnagar, Female Infanticide in
India: A Feminist Cultural History, NY: State University of New York Press, 2005.
14
John Wyatt, Matters of Life and Death, Leicester: IVP 1998.

P 27
including scientific reductionism, biotechnology and ethical diversity. These are contrasted
with the biblical worldview of humanity and health. The author, looks to the Bible for a
way forward. The strength of the books lies in the author’s experiences as a neonatal
pediatrician, daily engaged in matters of life and death.
The Edge of Life: Dying, Death and Euthanasia15, This book takes a distinctively scriptural
approach to the issues of death, dying and the ethical crisis in which we find ourselves in
the early years of the 21st century. The biblical underpinning of our traditional ethical
position is reviewed, the nature and origins of many of the recent changes are examined
and the relevance of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the three primary issues of
abortion, infanticide and euthanasia are examined in detail. The link between these is well
established and the grey areas of suicide, persistent vegetative state, eugenics and 'quality
of life' are addressed with sufficient clarity.
Some of the legal principles are critically examined and it is a most effective stimulus to
Christian thinking. The Christian is thus challenged to avoid slipping into the current
worldly mindset by standing clearly upon biblical ground when considering these critical
issues.
The Endangered Half: India’s Declining Female Sex Ratio16, the scope of this study is to
show how the traditional practice of female infanticide, which left hundreds of villages in
northern and western India with no girl children at all in the 18th and 19th century, had
severely damaged the dimension and excellence of their population. It has comprehensive
data on the population, its growth pattern and distribution in the statistics and the
communities which practiced female infanticide.
15
John R. Ling, The Edge of Life: Dying, Death and Euthanasia, London: Day One Publications 2002.
16
Mini, Phillip, and Bagchi, Kathakali S. The Endangered Half: India’s Declining Female Sex Ratio, Its
History and Social Implications. New Delhi: Uplabdhi Trust 1995.

P 28
Infanticide and the Value of Life17, This book deals with the case studies of parents and
relatives who were directly involved in female infanticide, consideration of parents and the
community towards female infanticide, and the intervention plan necessary for elimination
Female Infanticide: Its Causes and Solutions18. The book attempts to learn the problem
historically and in a revolutionary perspective. While analyzing this social evil a few
suggestions were also made as a shift towards a solution. Case studies were presented in
order to identify the various dimensions of infanticide. Views of women on female
infanticide before and after the introduction of the Adult Education Program were included
in this study.
As recent research and literature show, sociological study has made a great contribution to
the literature on female infanticide. The focus of this research is to study the challenges of
female infanticide from the missiological perspective. Hence, in the next chapter an
attempt is made to study the background of the Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts
of Tamilnadu to understand the context of female infanticide.
17
Marvin Kohl, Infanticide and the Value of Life, NY: Prometheus Books, 1978.
18
R.Muthulakshmi, Female Infanticide: Its Causes and Solutions. New Delhi: Discovery, 1997.

P 29
Chapter III
Historical Background of Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai Districts of Tamilnadu
In 1947, when India attained independence, the Madras Presidency comprised of present
day Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. The agitation for a separate State
for the Telugu speaking region forced the central government to bifurcate the Madras
Presidency and create Andhra Pradesh. Under the State Re-organization Act of 1956,
Madras was divided further and the States of Kerala and Mysore (Karnataka) came into
being. In 1967, Madras State was renamed Tamilnadu. The state represents Dravidian
culture. Major challenges for the mission of the church in Tamilnadu are: health, literacy,
poverty, and unemployment.
Agriculture is the stronghold of the economy, with most of the population dependent upon
it for their livelihood. In the social sectors of health, literacy and education the State has
taken some impressive strides. The literacy rate has been increasing progressively, and the
government has invested forcefully in the rural education infrastructure. This has resulted
in a growth in years of schooling to 6.4 years which is much higher than the national
average of 5.5 years making Tamilnadu a close third to Kerala (8.1) and Maharashtra
(7.1)19. This chapter traces the major demographic trends such as the sex composition, life
expectancy, birth and death rates in India and in Tamilnadu; then studies the status of
human development such as employment, health, literacy and education in Tamilnadu and
finally paints the historical background of Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of
Tamilnadu, to understand the context for the practice of female infanticide.
19
Tamilnadu: A Profile, www.undp.org.in/hdrc/shdr/TN/Chp1.pdf, p.14.and refer also The Census of India,
2001. Primary Census Abstract.

P 30
1. Major Demographic Trends in India
Population, if controllable and efficient, is an asset to any country. It is the index of its
inner strength. It leads to a better and fuller utilization of its natural resources. But if it
becomes unmanageable, it eats into the vitals of the nation and becomes an evil. A large
size population by itself must not be confused with over-population. A country is over-
populated or under-populated in relation to its area, resources, and their utilization. At the
present stage of her economic development, there is little doubt that India is over-
populated.
Density of Population (per square kilometer)20
Year Tamilnadu India

1941 202 103
1951 232 117
1961 259 142
1971 317 177
1981 372 216
1991 429 267
2001 478 324
The rate of growth of the population as well as the size of the population of India is
definitely very high. On the basis of the rate of growth and the size of population, one can
certainly say that there is a population explosion in India.
20
Source: India: Provisional Totals-Paper 1 of 2001. p.34. PAPER-1 of the Census of India 2001, Series-34,
entitled 'Provisional Population Totals', pertaining to Tamilnadu, has been brought out by the Director of
Census Operations for Tamilnadu. It contains interesting preliminary material on several aspects of changes
in the population since the 1991 Census including population growth, sex ratios and literacy rates and
desegregation by district and gender.

P 31
1.1. The sex composition in India
Sex ratio is one of the characteristics of the population. It has an important bearing upon
marriage rate, death rate, birth rate and even migration rate. The sex ratio is defined as
“the number of females per 1,000 males.” In any study of population, analysis of the sex
composition or sex ratio plays a fundamental role. The age composition is another major
demographic feature in India. The proportion of population below 15 years is showing
decline, whereas the proportion of elderly people in the country is increasing. This trend
may continue in the time to come.
Sex ratio in India during twentieth century (females for thousand males)21
Year 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Sex 972 964 955 950 945 946 941 930 934 927 933
ratio
There are various reasons for this imbalance in the sex ratio. Factors such as female
infanticide, neglect of female infants, early marriage, bad treatment and hard work of
women, craving for male children, practice of dowry and dominant patriarchal values have
been instrumental in reducing the number of females in India.
1.2. The life expectancy in India
Life expectancy or expectation of life at a given age is the average number of years that a
person of that age may expect to live, according to the mortality pattern prevalent in that
country. Demographers consider it as one of the best indicators of a country’s level of
development and the overall health status of its population. As far as India is concerned, in
the year 1901, the life expectancy of males and females at birth was found to be 23.63
21
.ibid. p.36.

P 32
years and 23.93 years, respectively. These figures have increased respectively to 62.80
years and 63.80 years in 200022.
1.3. The birth and death rates in India
The birth and death rates are important components of population growth. India, like
many other developing countries, is faced with the problem of a high birth rate and a
decreasing death rate.
Birth Rate, Death Rate and rate of Natural Growth (per thousand)23
Decades Birth Rate Death Rate Rate of Natural Growth

1901-1911 49.2 42.6 6.6.
1961-1971 36.9 14.9 22.0
1971-1981 33.9 12.5 21.4
1981-1991 29.5 9.8 19.7
1991-2001 28.5 9.0 19.5
The causes of high birth rate are: universality of marriage, early marriage, early puberty,
low standard of living, and low level of literacy, traditional customs and absence of family
planning habits. Decreasing death rate has been attributed to: mass control of diseases such
as smallpox, plague, cholera, malaria; better health facilities, impact of national health
programs, absence of natural checks as found in the instances of famines, floods, large
scale epidemics; improvements in food supply, international aid in different ways, and
development of social consciousness among the masses. The demographers are of the
opinion that in the future the rapid decline in India’s death rate may not be continued.
There is an increasing birth rate and decreasing death rate in India.
22
Ibid, p.38.
23
ibid. p.39.

P 33
2. Major Demographic Trends in Tamilnadu
The demographic features of India are also the same for Tamilnadu. Hence the following
presents brief demographic trends both at the state and district level.
2.1. The demographic desegregation at the State level
Tamilnadu24 reported the second lowest decadal growth in population after Kerala, among
the group of States with population exceeding 20 million in 2001. Tamilnadu also
performed reasonably well in terms of literacy growth during the decade 1991-2001. The
State's literacy rate increased from 62.66 percent in 1991 to 73.47 percent in 2001. The
female literacy rate increased from 51.33 percent in 1991 to 64.55 percent in 2001, while
the male literacy rate grew at a slower pace from 73.75 percent in 1991 to 82.33 percent in
2001.25
The population sex ratio for Tamilnadu has increased from 974 females per 1,000 males in
1991 to 986 in 2001. Tamilnadu's child sex ratio, defined as the number of girls per 1,000
boys in the age group of 0-6 years, shows a decline from 948 in 1991 to 939 in 2001. The
decline in child sex ratios in some districts of the State is quite alarming.
2.2. The demographic desegregation at the District level
The decadal percentage increase in population is lower between 1991 and 2001 as
compared to 1981-1991 for most districts as it is for the State as a whole. Athreya rightly
24
Idid, p. 41.

P 34
observes that the only exceptions are Coimbatore, Salem and Namakkal. The percentage of
decadal growth in population between 1991 and 2001 was especially low in the central and
southern districts, with only Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli reporting growth higher than
the state average of 11.19. Among the districts reporting relatively high growth rates of
population, there seems to be two categories: Coimbatore, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and
Vellore possibly reflecting growth of industries and some in-migration, on the one hand,
and Dharmapuri, Salem and Namakkal reflecting high fertility arising from very strong son
preference, on the other. This argument is, of course, somewhat speculative at this point in
time, and one would need data on migration and fertility to confirm this. He further
remarks that sixteen districts out of the current 30 had female literacy rates below 50
percent in 1991. In 2001, only Dharmapuri has that uncertain distinction. The following
chart explains the situation in Salem District.
SALEM DISTRICT 0-6 sex ratio 1991 - 2001

SALEM DISTRICT LITERACY RATE 1991 - 2001
1991 2001 1991 2001

PERSONS MALES FEMALES PERSONS MALES FEMALES
TOTAL 830 851 TOTAL 52.76 63.51 41.31 65.09 74.39 55.20
RURAL 792 811 44.88 56.44 32.48 57.27 67.99 45.64
RURAL
URBAN 917 903 URBAN 69.11 78.37 59.41 74.16 81.96 66.05
Salem stands in 30th place in 0-6 sex ratio and 27th place in Tamilnadu literary rate.26
The mass literacy campaigns of the early 1990s known in the State as "Arivoli Iyakkams"
have no doubt played a significant part in this progress, despite the fact that, after the early
and enthusiastic high points of 1991-1993, the campaigns lost their participatory character
26
Table drawn based on Tamilnadu census Report 2001.

P 35
due to bureaucratization and other factors. The campaign encouraged and convinced the
parents, especially the neo-literates and non-literates, to send children to school.
2.3. Population trend in Tamilnadu
The sex ratios have increased between 1991 and 2001 in practically all districts of
Tamilnadu. The only exceptions are Dharmapuri, where it has declined from an already
low figure of 942 to 938. There are at least two districts where sex ratios are considerably
lower than the State average, Dharmapuri (938) and Salem (929), for reasons other than
sex selective migration. This becomes immediately evident if we look at child sex ratios
(CSRs).
The CSR for Tamilnadu declined from 948 in 1991 to 939 in 2001. Several districts have
also shown declines. While in 1991, 12 out of the then existing 21 districts had a CSR
greater than 960, in 2001 only nine out of the current 30 districts have a CSR exceeding
960. Seven districts have a CSR below 930 in 2001: Salem (826), Dharmapuri (878), Theni
(893), Namakkal (896), Karur (923), Madurai (927) and Dindigul (929)27. These are also
the districts where there is considerable evidence from the field of widespread practice of
27
Refer the tables in the appendix for more details.

P 36
female infanticide.28 Besides these districts where the CSR is low, the district of Vellore
has shown a sharp decline in CSR from 962 to 937. It is a fact that female infanticide is
widespread in the Tirupathur division of this district as well as in some blocks of
neighboring Tiruvannamalai district.
The provisional population of India (2001 Census) is 1,027,015,247 comprising of
531,277,078 males and 495,738,169 females. The population of Tamilnadu stood at
62,110,839 comprising of 31,268,654 males and 30,842,185 females. The population of
Tamilnadu constitutes 6.05% of the India’s population. It ranks 6th among the States. The
population, which was 55,858,946 in 1991, has gone up by 6,251,893 over the last ten
years. This represents an increase of 11.19% during the period 1991-2001 as against the
growth rate of 15.39% during the period 1981-91. The density of population per square
kilometer is 478 in 2001 versus 429 in 199129.
Density of population in Tamilnadu in 1941 was 202.103 and in 2001 rose to 478.324.
Literacy standards in Tamilnadu state as per 2001 census are 73.47% as against 62.66% in
1991 census. This shows a good growth rate in literacy. This growth rate is in tune with All
India growth rates and literacy population is 65.38% in the 200l Census versus 52.21% in
the 1991 Census.30 Reviewing the Tamilnadu population census in 2001, one can conclude
that unless efforts on a mass scale are urgently taken to address the issues of patriarchy,
son preference and the neglect or worse in relation to the female fetus, infant and child, the
decline in birth rates that are often celebrated unthinkingly by policymakers may well have
been bought at the cost of grave gender inequality, with its own devastating long-run
consequences.
28
Tamilnadu Census Report, p.124
29
Ibid. p.125.
30
Ibid. p.125.

P 37
3. Status of Human Development in Tamilnadu
In human development, Tamilnadu ranks third, though on few specific indicators it lags
behind some States. Within Tamilnadu there are gaps and variations in the inter-district
human development, but its level of achievement suggests that high standards of literacy
and health can be reached despite low per capita income. Even so, improvement of income
levels would ensure improved literacy and health status.
3.1. Status of Employment, Income and Poverty in Tamilnadu
The working population of Tamilnadu, 24.2 million in 1991, increased to 27.8 million in
2001. However, statistics reveal that the proportion of workers to the total population
actually declined during the 40-year period of 1961-2001 from 45.7 percent to 44.8
percent, though there was an upward trend between 1981 and 2001, from 41.7 percent to
44.8 percent. What is disturbing is that the number of marginal workers increased from 1.4
million in 1991 to 4.1 million in 2001.31
This implies that the increase in the worker participation rate (WPR) was the result of an
increasing number of marginal workers rather than main workers. The higher rate of
worker participation in the rural areas, as compared to the urban areas, has been a
disquieting trend, though the urban WPR accelerated at a faster rate when compared to the
rural WPR during the period 1981-2001.32 A positive feature was that female WPRs, 33 in
both rural and urban areas, increased at a faster rate than male WPRs with the result that
total female workers increased from 31.4 percent in 1981 to 34.7 percent in 1991.
A salient point in the development of Tamilnadu is that child labor has shown declining
trends as the State’s efforts in various social sector programs have borne fruit. Programs
such as mid-day meals, incentives for school enrolment, free school uniforms, free bus
31
Tamilnadu Human Development Report, Delhi: Social Science Press,2 003. p.23.
32
Ibid. p.25.
33
Ibid, p. 29.

P 38
passes, girl child development schemes and marriage assistance have made it possible for
children to avoid entering the labor market. Despite these achievements, areas of concern
remain.
During 1996-7, the per capita income of Tamilnadu was 15,929 Rupees, as compared to
the all India per capita income of 11,554 Rupees34. It would be generally expected that a
district with high per capita income should also have better education and health standards.
But a closer examination of the data available shows that this does not always hold true.
While Chennai, with a high per capita income, has a high level of literacy, districts like
Salem and Erode that have relatively high-income levels have quite low literacy levels.
The same situation can be found in the area of health.
Poverty levels, relatively static at well above the 50 % level during the 1970s and 1980s,
witnessed a dramatic decrease since. From 45.80 % in 1987-1988 it declined to 32.48 % in
1993-1994 and further to 21.12 % in 1999-2000.35 The estimated number of people living
below the poverty line in 1999-2000 was 13.05 million of which 8.05 million were in the
rural areas and 5 million in the urban areas. Poverty levels declined from 32 to 20 % in the
rural areas, while the decline in the urban areas was from 39.77 to 22.11% making the two
levels of poverty almost equal.36
Region-wide estimates show that poverty levels have been especially high in Chennai at
44.23%. Among the social groups it was also found that greater poverty levels exist among
the Schedule Castes and Tribes37., where 56.30% of urban households and 33.38 percent of
34
For more information refer, Ranjani Ray, ‘Poverty, Household Size and Child Welfare’, Economic and
Political Weekly, 23 September, 2000. World Bank, India: Reducing Poverty, Accelerating Development,
New York.2001.
35
Tamilnadu Human Development Report, Delhi: Social Science Press, 2003.p.31.
36
ibid, p.33.
37
This is the summary of analyzing the “Table 2: Districts according to level of poverty”, in Tamilnadu
Census Report 2001, p.11.

P 39
rural households live below the poverty line. Poverty reduction strategies in Tamilnadu
need to lay emphasis on the urban areas, as the incidence of poverty remains higher there.
3.2. Status of Health and Nutrition in Tamilnadu
The life expectancy rate is an important indicator of the overall health status of the
population. However, health is more than just life expectancy as it includes the questions
of fertility, morbidity, mortality and nutrition along with a host of other variables that
reflect the overall well being of a people. In Tamilnadu, an analysis of the decennial
growth of population in the state from 1901 to 2001 shows a population growth of over
three times.
After 1951, the population grew sharply but since 1970 birth rates have fallen significantly,
from the 1980s, both birth and death rates have shown a sustained decline. Between 1971
and 2000 the State’s Crude Birth Rate declined 39% from 31.4 to 19.3 per 1000, more than
the national rate of 30%. Birth rates declined rapidly since 1980 and in 10 years reached
about 20.3, but since 1993 there has been a leveling off of the natural growth rate of
population in the State. The decline in death rates was not so impressive and came down to
7.9 per 1000 in 2000 from 14.4 in 1971. In recent times, the gap in the rural-urban divide
has been narrowing with the rural birth rate at 21 as compared to 19 for urban while the
rural death rate stood at 8.8, compared to 6.6 for urban. 38
Tamilnadu’s sex ratio has improved from 974 to 986 in the period 1991-2001 and it is
much higher than the national average. The unpleasant ratio is, nevertheless, a matter of
concern. Though, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR) declined, the
infant mortality rate (IMR) remained high, and rural infant mortality rates continued to be
higher than urban ones. The major causes of infant mortality were inadequate antenatal
38
For more information refer, Rama V Baru, Private Health Care in India, New Delhi, Sage Publications,
1998. Peter Berman, and M.E. Khan (Eds), Paying for India’s Health Care, New Delhi, Sage Publications,
1993. Sarala, Gopalan, Women and Employment in India, Delhi: Har-Anand Publications,.1995.

P 40
care and maternal malnutrition. Despite a successful immunization program, the nutritional
status of children in the State is a matter of serious concern.
In Tamilnadu about 46.6% of children fewer than 5 years are underweight due to
malnutrition. Feeding programs have been in operation for almost forty years in Tamilnadu
but more needs to be done. The noon meal provided outside the home can be perhaps
better described as a substitute rather than a supplementary nutrition input and special
attention has to be paid to preschoolers.
3.3. Status of Literacy and Education in Tamilnadu
Tamilnadu has a rich heritage in education though the early Christian missionaries used
English as the medium of instruction, the national movement spurred education in the
vernacular from 1910 onwards. By 1920 local bodies were given the power to raise funds
for education making it possible to introduce compulsory primary education in selected
areas. While the overall literacy rate had gone up from 62.7% in 1991 to 73.47% in 2001,
male literacy level grew even more from 73.75% to 82.33% in the same period. Equally
encouraging was the growth in the literacy rate for females, which went up from 51.33 %
in 1991 to 64.55 % in 2001.39
In primary education, Tamilnadu has been a pioneer in the introduction of various
incentives to enhance the enrollment of school children. The “Noon Meal” Scheme,
introduced in 1982 to cover all rural children in the age group 2 to 9 years, was extended to
cover both urban and rural children in the age group 2 to 15 years in 1984. The educational
policies should include the lowering of the opportunity costs of girls’ education, providing
free education to the economically and socially backward communities, creating more
scholarships for girls, making the curricula more gender sensitive, recruiting more women
39
Tamil Nadu Human Development Report, Delhi: Social Science Press, 2003. p.69.

P 41
teachers and involving the community in the development and planning of education for
the youth40. This would narrow the gender gap and enhance female education. Vocational
training should be structured so as to enable students to find gainful employment, while
tertiary education should be updated to prepare the youth for the demands of the market.
Government policies that benefited women and improved their position in the workforce
have to be further strengthened or adjusted to meet the changing position of women. For
instance, the State’s reservation policy for SC/ST women could be extended to all women
with preference being given to the vulnerable groups. More protection against sexual
harassment in the work place must be provided as women fail to report such behavior due
to lack of safety and security.
Traditionally, Tamilnadu is one of the most industrialized states. At present, Tamilnadu is
the third largest economy in India. Given the high current economic growth rate,
Tamilnadu is posed to emerge as the first largest economy before 2010 A.D. There has
been visible change in the overall economic and industrial climate in the state. Coinciding
with the new economic and industrial policy of the Government of India, the state
Government too has come up with its own policy that outlines its main objectives and the
strategies to achieve faster growth. The demographic trends both in India and in Tamilnadu
explain the seriousness on the practices such as female infanticide. The following section
attempts a brief historical background of the three districts selected for this research to
understand the context of the challenges of female infanticide.
40
For more information refer, Government of India, Ministry of Human Resources Development Annual
Report 1996–97, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Delhi. 2001., Anita Ram Pal, ‘Education for
Human Development and South Asia’, Economic and Political Weekly. April, 2000. Probe Team,. Public
Report on Basic Education in India, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999 P. Radhakrishnan,. and Akhila R.
Narayanasamy, Education for All—Progress towards Education—The Case of TamilNadu, NIEPA, Delhi:
Ministry of HRD, April, 2000.

P 42
4. Historical Background of Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai Districts.
4.1. Historical background of Salem District
The name 'Salem' appears to have been derived from Sela or Shalya by which term refers
to the country around the hills, as in the inscriptions. Local tradition claims Salem as the
birth place of Tamil poetess Avvaiyar. The city of Salem is surrounded by several ranges of
hills, including the Shevaroys and Yercaud hills (a major tourist destination). To the north
of town are the Nagaramalai, the Jeragamalai to the south, the Kanjanamalai to the west
and Godumalai to the east. It is divided by the Thirumanimuthar in the main division. The
fort is the oldest place of the town.
Salem is the fifth largest city of Tamilnadu and one of the major textile centres in the
country. Before it was bifurcated into two districts (Salem and Dharmapuri), Salem was
the largest district in Tamilnadu. Later Salem was again divided with the formation of new
districts such as Namakkal.
Salem is known as the Mango city in Tamilnadu, India. As Salem has a steel plant, it is
also occasionally known as Steel City. It is also famous for sago, Bauxite, Lorry Body
building, and hand loom weaving. Salem is one of the largest producers of traditional
silver anklets, which is popular among women of India. Salem has the second largest
magnetite deposits in India. Companies like Dalmia and TANMAG have mines here.
Salem also boasts of a large sago industry. Besides Salem Steel Plant, Burn Standard,
Power Grid, and TANMAG, which are located in the city and suburbs, Mettur (50
kilometers from Salem city) has SISCOL, MALCO, Chemplast, Thermal power plant,
Hydel power plant and a huge number of chemical industries.
Salem had a very active film industry, with former Modern Theatres Studios being the hub
of Tamil film production. Now defunct Modern Theatres produced some of the most

P 43
successful Tamil films, in which many veteran actors appeared, including former Chief
Minister M. G. Ramachandran (known as MGR). Cinema is the main recreation of Salem
residents. Salem used to have more theaters in Tamilnadu. Even now we can see more
number of theaters in and around the city.
Like all towns in Tamilnadu, people from different states of India settled in Salem. Some
of them speak Kannada, Telugu, Sourashtra and a good number of Muslims are also
present. Salem has the fifth largest population in the state of Tamilnadu. Salem is also the
second largest city of Tamilnadu in terms of population density.
Most of the population of Salem is of the Kongu Race. Other than that lot of Kannadiga's,
Malayalis and Gujaratis also live in Salem. Tamil is the most widely spoken Language in
Salem. There are several Mariamman temples in Salem. Mariamman is a Hindu goddess,
an incarnation of Shakti. Every year around July, the city celebrates Mariamman festival
for a fortnight. Kandashramam is small hill temple for the deity Muruga. It is situated 10
kilometers from Salem city near the Chennai highway. In Salem City at Nethimedu there is
another hill for the deity Murugan. Two more mountain temples are there in Salem for
Vishnu. Salem also has heritage temple called Sitthar Koil, which is located about 10
kilometers from Salem. There is a Shiva temple, which is located on the foot hills of Kanja
Malai. Aragalur, located approximately 21 kilometers from Attur, boasts 2 old temples and
a large Buddha statue. The one day Temple Car festival in summer invites a lot of people
in the region.
Salem, which was once considered the most educationally backward district in Tamilnadu,
now has a large number of good educational institutions. Recently, new schools and
colleges have been constructed.

P 44
4.2. Historical background of Dharmapuri District
Salem district is divided into Salem, Namakkal, Dharmpuri and Krishnagiri, as the
historical background study will overlap in the geographical reference. The earliest known
ruler, who ruled Tagadur (present day Dharmapuri) during the Sangam era, is Adigaman
Naduman Anji. The next we hear in the 8th century when the northern parts of Salem
District were probably under the Pallavas regime.41 In the beginning of the 9th Century,
the Rashtrakutas gained power and influenced the history of the district for the next two
centuries.
The history of the 13th Century revolves around the Hoysalas and the Pandyas. Then the
region came under the rule of the Vijayanagar kingdom in the 14th century later Mohual
kingdom under Hydel Ali. Tippu Sultan succeeded Hyder Ali. British controlled the area
after 1792, with their victory over Tippu. During the British rule in the country, and even
until 1947, there was no separate district except Dharmapuri as one of the taluks of Salem
District. This was formed as a separate district in 1965 with it headquarters at Dharmapuri.
The inhabitants of the district speak different languages. The major communities
found in this area are the Kapus, Lingayaths, Okkaligas, Baliya Chetties, Oddars and
Scheduled Castes like Holeyas and Madigas. The weavers of this area mostly belong to
Sali Chetties. The Vanniars in Baramahal and the Malayalis in Chitheri Hills areas. .Adi-
Dravidars and Arunthathiars form the majority scattered throughout the district.
The District economy is mainly agrarian in nature. Nearly 70% of the workforce is
dependent on agriculture and allied activities. The district is one among the most backward
and drought prone areas in the state. Dharmapuri district forms a major horticultural belt in
the state. As the area is drought prone, it has become essential to switch over to cultivation
41
Tamilnadu: A Profile, www.undp.org.in/hdrc/shdr/TN/Chp1.pdf, p.16.

P 45
of drought tolerant perennial fruit crops. Mango is the main horticultural crop. The
topography of the district reveals that the district is drought prone and very little resources
for development.
Dharmapuri district is endowed with sizeable reserves of granite. High quality black
granite is available in Pennagaram, Harur and Palacode blocks. Quartz is available in
Kendiganapalli Village of Pennagaram Taluk, A.Velampatti of Harur taluk and
Pethathampatti of Pappireddipatti Taluk.Another high value mineral available here is
malibdinum, which is identified as a good conductor. In general, Dharmapuri is the most
backward district in Tamilnadu.
4.3. Historical background of Madurai District
Madurai, in south-central Tamilnadu state, is the second largest, and probably oldest, city
in the state. Located on the banks of the river Vaigai and enclosed by the Anai, Naga, and
Pasu (Elephant, Snake, and Cow) hills. In ancient times, it was known as Mathura, as cited
in the Mahabharata. One of the early descriptions, in the fifth-century Silappadigaram, is
that of its fiery destruction. The city is known for its rich heritage, culture and historical
background in the sense that Lord Shiva himself performed sixty-four wonders called
Thiruvilaiyadals in Madurai many centuries ago.
As legend says, Madurai was once called forest Kadambavanam. Once, a merchant named
Dhananjaya who was passing through the forest saw Indran, the king of Gods,
worshipping a Swayambhulingam under a kadamba tree in the forest. This was reported
immediately to the king Kulashekara Pandyan. Kulashekara cleared the forest and built a
magnificent Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple around the sacred Lingam and he built a
lotus shaped city around the temple. On the naming ceremony of the city, Shiva appeared

P 46
magnificently to bless the city. The divine nectar (madhu) from the matted locks of Shiva
fell on the blessed city. Then the city was named "Madhurapuri"42.
As early as the 302BC, Megasthanes visited Madurai. Great travel historians like Pliny
(77AD) and Ptolemy (140AD) have made reference to Madurai in their travelogues. Marco
Polo visited Madurai in 1293AD followed by Ibn Batuta in 1333AD. Later many people
from Rome and Greece visited Madurai and established trade with the Pandya kings.
Madurai flourished until the 10th century AD when it was captured by Cholas, the
archrivals of the Pandyas.
The Cholas ruled Madurai from 920 AD until the beginning of the 13th century. In 1223
AD the Pandyas regained their kingdom and once again become prosperous. In 1311,
Malik Kafur, the general of Alauddin Khilji who was then the ruler of Delhi, reached
Madurai and raided and robbed the city for precious stones, jewels, and other rare
treasures. This led to the subsequent raids by other Muslim Sultans. In 1323, the Pandya
kingdom including Madurai became a province of the Delhi Empire, under the
Tughlaks. In 1371, the Vijayanagar dynasty of Hampi captured Madurai and Madurai
became part of the Vijayanagar Empire. Kings of this dynasty were in the habit of leaving
the captured land to governors called Nayaks. This was done for the efficient management
of their empire. The Nayaks paid a fixed amount annually to the Vijayanagar Empire. After
the death of Krishna Deva Raya (King of Vijayanagar Empire) in 1530 AD, the Nayaks
became independent and ruled the territories under their control. Among Nayaks,
Thirumalai Nayak (1623-1659) was very popular; even now he is popular among people,
since, it was he who contributed to the creation of many magnificent structures in and
around Madurai. The Raja Gopuram of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, The Pudu
42
History of Madurai, www.madurai.tn.nic.in/history/pdf, p. 3

P 47
Mandapam and The Thirumalai Nayakar's Palace are living monuments to his artistic
fervor.
A history of Madurai would not be complete without mentioning the name of Rani
Mangammal, the woman of great skill and sagacity. History does not provide many
instances of ruling queens in Tamilnadu. Madurai started slipping into the hands of the
British's East India Company. In 1781, British appointed their representatives to look
after Madurai. George Procter was the first collector of Madurai. Since
India's independence, Madurai is now one of the major districts of Tamilnadu State. Later
on Madurai district was bifurcated into two districts namely Madurai and Dindugul
Districts. The historical background of the study revealed the religious, social and cultural
heritage of the three districts in Tamilandu.
Summary.
The historical and demographic study of Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of
Tamilnadu clearly reveals the fact though in the social sectors such as literacy and
education has seen some significant growth, still it remain as a major challenge in
comparison to the population growth. The birth rate, death rate and sex composition in
these districts are very low compared to the state average and very especially 0-6 age
group sex composition is constantly going down.
The economic condition of these districts is nothing but poverty and unemployment. Any
increase in the worker participation rate is only among the marginal workers and not with
the main workers. The urbans have the higher rate of work participation than the rurals.
This brief sketch on the major demographic trends in India and Tamilnadu in general and
the historical background of the Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai district in particular is an
attempt to understand the context of the practice of female infanticide. A summary on

P 48
these features are found in the appendix to the second chapter, which throws light on the
missiological response to the major demographic features such as unemployment and
poverty. The mission of the church in these areas is: can they focus on creating more self
help groups to empower the people to face the growing challenges of unemployment and
poverty?
In response to health, the mission of the church is: can they work to reduce the CBR by
adopting setting the model and by a campaign mode that seeks to increase the ideal age at
marriage to 22 years for girls, and the ideal age for child bearing from 23-27? Can health
education and prevention of HIV be stepped up? Will the mission of the church in these
districts identify the causes of high birth rate and also the decreasing death rate and address
them in their mission? Can the educational mission introduce a new policy framework,
with an appropriate reallocation of financial resources, to achieve the goal of universal
elementary education?
Can the mission undertake a rational assessment of needs before opening new schools in
the context of a declining birth rate? Will the mission of the church ensure that all school
age girls attend school, at least at the elementary level and also increase the number of
non-formal education projects. Can the church revamp adult literacy efforts and ensure that
neo-literates do not relapse into illiteracy. The districts with low educational attainment
levels need special attention.
In ensuring full equality for women in the districts with pronounced gender inequalities the
mission of the church may need comprehensive programs to take care of expectant
mothers, immunization, awareness against female infanticide, improving educational
attainment levels through higher female literacy, educating parents about the benefits of
schooling for girls and increasing the female per capita income to reduce the wage

P 49
differential between males and females. Can one raise the voice on ensuring higher wages
for women, expanding non-farm activities for women, gender equity in health and
education, highlighting gender specific issues of vulnerable groups and drawing up a
blueprint for the effective prevention of crimes against women? These are the major
challenges and questions that one can draw from the demographic study of Salem,
Dharmapuri and Madaurai districts of Tamilnadu in meeting the challenges of female
infanticide. This chapter showed the context on the challenges of female infanticide and
now the attention will be focused to study the history, methods and impacts of female
infanticide in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu.

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Chapter IV
History, Methods and Impacts of Female Infanticide in Salem, Dharmapuri and
Madurai Districts of Tamilnadu
There is an ample historical evidence to document the incredible tendency of parents to
murder their children under a mixture of stressful situations. In nineteenth century
England, for example, infanticide was rampant throughout the country. Infanticide has
pervaded almost every society of humankind. While there are many diverse reasons for
this reckless destruction, two of the most statistically important are poverty and population
control.
Female infanticide is the deliberate killing of baby girls. It is also described as gender-
selective killing or "gendercide"43. In addition to the active methods undertaken to
eliminate baby girls soon after birth, neglect and discrimination leading to death and sex-
selective abortion are also means by which many female children die each year. These
phenomena are most prevalent in patriarchal societies in which the status of women is low
and a preference for sons is built into the cultural ideology.
In rural and poverty-stricken areas, lack of education, economic wealth, and access to
healthcare are factors that lead to the murder of infant girls. In urban areas, individuals
commonly use selective abortion with access to modern medical technology that allows for
early discovery of sex. Unfortunately, although Government programs and human rights
organizations strive to put an end to these practices with education, financial incentives,
and threat of punishment, female infanticide continues. India and China, two of the most
populous countries today, top the list of nations in which these violence are carried out.
This chapter traces the history, methods and the impact of female infanticide in the society.
43
Similar words like 'gynocide' and 'femicide' are used to describe the killing of females of any age.

P 51
This chapter leads to the understanding of the missiological implications to the challenges
of female infanticide in Tamilnadu in general and in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai
districts in particular.
1. Historical Overview of Female Infanticide
Infanticide was common in all well-studied ancient cultures, including those of ancient
Greece, Rome, India, China and Japan.44 The end of the practice of infanticide in the
ancient world coincided with the rise of Christianity as a major religion. The practice was
never completely eradicated, however, and even continues today in areas of extremely high
poverty and over population. Female infants, then and now are particularly vulnerable.
In South India, the state of Tamilnadu is a particular area of concern due to indirect
demographic evidence that suggests that the practice has increased here in recent years.
Female infanticide is prevalent throughout the state, particularly in the districts of Salem,
Dharmapuri, Dindigul, and Madurai. In 1995, a study indicated that the number of girls
who died soon after birth was three times greater than the number of boys. 45 Female
infanticide is practiced by many different castes, indicating a bias against females
throughout the social hierarchy.
Female children are looked upon as a burden on the family. Though prohibited by law, this
practice has been adopted by all castes. Because women are accorded low value in Indian
society, the female children who are allowed to live are at great risk. Many parents do not
even hide their contempt for their daughters, naming them “Venda” (don't want) or
“Poddum Pennu” (enough of daughters).
44
An overview of ancient attitudes in the Roman Empire towards the death of children and infanticide can be
found at http://www.cf.ac.uk/hisar/teach/ancthist/projects/children/
45
Sabu George. "Female Infanticide in Tamil Nadu, India: From Recognition Back to Denial?" www.hsph.
Harvard.edu/organization/heanthnet/Sasia/george/html, p.1.

P 52
The National Family Health Survey indicates that the risk of dying between the ages of one
and five is 43% higher for girls.46 Sex-selective abortion is also on the rise, particularly in
urban centers. With ultrasound, amniocentesis, and chronic villas sampling, fetal sex
determination is available, as is selective abortion, to those who can afford it. Today,
mobile ultrasound units are even traveling to rural areas. Studies indicate that thousands of
female fetuses are aborted each year in India, following prenatal sex determination.
Women in India are victims of the patriarchal ideology that oppresses them, for it is they
who carry out the murders of India's daughters. Mothers are often helpless to do anything,
having no privileges over their children. The killing of infant girls is usually committed by
senior women in the husbands' families, or midwives who will do so for a fee. A number of
methods are employed to kill the newborn girls, and these, having been handed down from
generation to generation, are similar throughout the land.
The state governments of India have taken some steps to combat female infanticide and
sex-selective abortion. Unfortunately, the Indian police have not proven to be a successful
deterrent to female infanticide. As mentioned earlier, parents fearing punishment have
simply adopted new methods of killing their daughters. Of those cases that are reported to
the police, not many are successfully prosecuted. Village police officers have often been
found to extract bribes from parents as well.
A number of Non-Governmental Organizations have initiated preventative measures and
developed programs to prevent female infanticide. For instance, they offer counseling to
expectant mothers, financial incentives and childcare support, health education, and so
forth. Education and social strategies to raise women's status seem to be the key to the
successful eradication of female infanticide in India.
46
Ibid. p.1.

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Barbara Miller coined the phrase “The Endangered Sex.” Amartya Sen used the phrase
“Missing Women.” They were referring to those who are also known simply as “Unborn
Girls.” These are examples of some of the shocking terminology social scientists and
activists have been using to highlight the problem of “female infanticide or female
feticide” in India. This section studies the history, methods and consequences of female
1.1. Female infanticide in India
The British first discovered female infanticide in India in 1789.47 Thereafter, the British
discovered female infanticide in various parts of north and west India. From the date of
first discovery of the practice by the British (1789) until the passing of the Female
Infanticide Act in March 1870 by the Viceroy's Council, female infanticide was the subject
of elaborate correspondence and reports. The British colonial administration did not have a
uniform policy for suppressing infanticide in the late 18th and 19th century. Since the
practice was found to be prevalent among some land-owing Hindu castes, the British first
engaged the ban against female infanticide in Hindu sacred literature to suppress the
practice. Later, when they found that this way was not helping in the suppression of the
practice, they resorted to coercion to stop female infanticide.48
In July 1816, James Carnac, the British resident at Baroda forwarded a statement to
Bombay government that showed that in the whole peninsula; there were "only 15 female
children in jadeja rajput households".49 In the Punjab region of north India, the bedi
khutris practiced female infanticide extensively in the 19th century. The decennial census
47
L S. Vishwanath, “Efforts of Colonial State to Suppress Female Infanticide: Use of Sacred Texts,
Generation of Knowledge”. Economic and Political Weekly . 33(19) May 9, 1998. P.1104-1112
48
Ibid, p.1107.
49
Ibid, p.1108.

P 54
showed that castes that practiced female infanticide in the last century continued the
practice in the 20th century.
According to the 1931 Census, the number of females per thousand males among Hindu
rajputs was 868 and among Hindu jats 805; while castes without a tradition of female
infanticide showed a much higher proportion of females. The Brahmins, for example, had
902 females per thousand males, the kayasths 888 and the musalman sayeds 884.50
In south India, the reference to female infanticide among the todas of Nilgiri hills and the
recent revelations of the practice among the kallar of Usilampatti taluk in Madurai district
and among the goundar of North Arcot Ambedkar and Salem districts show that south
India was not a female infanticide free zone as some scholars suggest. The British do not
seem to have made any effort to suppress female infanticide in south India.
The Bengal Regulation XXI of 1795 and Regulation VI of 1802 declared the practitioners
of female infanticide as murderers. The later enactment is known as the ACT VIII of 1870
and popularly known as FEMALE INFANTICIDE ACT but the Act was actively enforced
from 1876 to 1906 and slowly it was hidden and became inactive.
Female infanticide, the killing of female infants because they are female, has occurred not
only in several cultures across history, but is known to occur in contemporary societies as
well. Sabu George et al (1992), Lalita Panigrahi (1972), Viswa Nath (1973), and A. Clark
(1983) documented female infanticide in India during the period of British colonial rule.51
Among humans, infanticide is a longstanding and widespread practice. 52 In the period
50
more statistical information on the subject can be found at, India census Report 1931.
51
A. Clark. “Limitations on Female Life Chances in Rural Central Gujarat,” The Indian Economic and Social
History Review, Vol. 20, No.1,1983, pp 1-25; Sabu George, Rajaratnam Abel and B. D. Miller “Female
Infanticide in Rural South India,” Economic and Political Weekly, (May 10,1992), pp. 1153-56; Lalita
Panigrahi, British Social Policy and Female Infanticide,1972; Viswa Nath, ”Female Infanticide and the Lewa
Kanbis of Gujarat in the Nineteenth Century,” The Indian Economic and Social History Review, Vol. 10, No.
4, 1973, pp. 386-404.
52
See reviews in Mildred Dickemann, “Demographic Consequences of Infanticide in Man,” Annual Review
of Ecology, and Systematic, Vol. 6, 1975, pp. 107-37; Barbara D. Miller, The Endangered Sex Neglect of

P 55
since independence, the gruesome practice has been reported as occurring in many parts of
the country including Tamilnadu, where the phenomenon is of recent origin, and was not
known to exist before independence, except to those among the Thodas of Nilgiris.
The release of Census 2001 data has shocked the right minded citizens of India to think
and address the problem of adverse sex ratio which bears devastating social consequences
in the future. The girl-child has lost badly despite many projects and programs. The study,
"Missing: Mapping the Adverse Child Sex Ratio in India," added that the illegal practice of
finding out the sex of an unborn child or fetus and eliminating it if it is female has become
common practice. The study said that there are now 927 girls to every 1,000 boys aged six
and under in India, compared to 945 in 1991.53 In some regions, the ratio is now below 800
girls to 1,000 boys. In poor households in rural and urban areas it is primarily poverty
coupled with patriarchy that drives them towards female infanticide, which amounts to the
killing of the child soon after it is born through varied crude means.
Now Only Child Mortality Rate (CMR), Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Child Sex Ratio
(CSR) have come to speak voluminously on the crime. The decline in CSR should also be
attributed to IMR, and CMR which are higher when it comes to girl children owing to
gross neglect in terms of basic food and health care54. The role of sexual violence on girl
children cannot be overlooked either. Female infanticide was underlined as the most
terrible crime against women in India.
Female feticide and infanticide are a manifestation of gender bias. There is a common
saying that “Bringing up a girl is like watering the neighbor’s plants”. Between 1978 and
Female Children in Rural North India, (New York: Cornell University Press, 1981), Ch.2; Susan C. M.
Scrimshaw, “Infanticide in Human Populations: Societal and Individual Concerns,” in Glenn Hausfater and
Sarah Blaffer Hardy (eds), Infanticide: Comparative and Evolutionary Approaches, (Hawthorne, New York:
Aldine Publishing Company, , 1984), pp. 439-62; Sheila Johansson, “Delayed Infanticide,” Ibid., pp. 463-85.
53
"Missing: Mapping the Adverse Child Sex Ratio in India," http://www.cwmission.org.uk/news/ html. p.1
54
India Census Report 2001. p, 96.

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1982, there were about 78,000 cases of post-amniocentesis female feticides in India.
Advertisements such as "Pay rupees five hundred (500) now and save rupees five lakh
(500,000) later" played on the anxieties of parents in states like Punjab, Haryana and
Gujarat. Nearly all of the 15,914 abortions during 1984-85 at a well-known abortion clinic
in Bombay were undertaken after sex-determination tests indicated that the fetus was
female.55
The Census Commissioner observes that:
Migration cannot explain this phenomenon which must be the consequence of

female feticide on a massive scale if not female infanticide and higher female
child mortality rates... One thing is clear - the imbalance that has set in at this
early age group is difficult to be removed and would remain to haunt the
population for a long time to come. To say the least, demographically, the sex
ratio of 927:1,000 of the population in the age group 0-6 does not appear to
augur well for the future of the country.56
Several scholars emphasize the links between female infanticide, the practice of giving a
dowry, the devaluation of females and the alienation of land. Krishnaswamy adds
hypogenous marriages to the list of reasons for the practice of female infanticide. Another
reason for female infanticide was the superstitious belief that if you kill a female child, the
next one is sure to be a male.57
Bina Agarwal highlights the link between poverty, dowry and female infanticide in the
following text:
Among the poor, since female labor participation is typically higher and dowry
incidence lower than among well-to-do households, we would expect anti-female
bias to be lower. But if underemployment among the poor women is high, so that
their realized contribution to the household income is low... or cultural factors in
the region make for strong son-preference and high dowry among all classes, then
55
Madhu Kishwar, "When Daughters are Unwanted: Sex Determination Tests in India,” Manushi, no.86,
(January - February 1995), pp.15f.
56
Ashish Bose, "Census of India 2001 and After," Economic and Political Weekly, vol.36, no.20 (May 1
2001), pp.1686f.
57
S. Krishnaswamy, "Female Infanticide in Contemporary India: A Case study of Kallars of Tamil Nadu,” in
Rehana Ghadially, ed., Women in Indian Society, p.186.

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despite more women entering the labor force, there would be a stronger bias against
girls under poverty conditions. 58
Women are under tremendous pressure to give birth to male babies. In most cases reported,
they are named as the murderers of female children. It is either the mother-in-law or the
mother or the midwife who commits the murder. We need to ask whether these women are
violators or victims. Even though it is the father who determines the sex of a child, the
mother is condemned as unable to give birth to a son. The unwanted female babies who are
killed at birth are referred to as kuzhi pappa (Happy Baby).59
The unwanted ness of girl children manifests itself not only in female infanticide, but also
in selective abortion of female fetuses and neglect of girl children, leading to excess female
child mortality. Under the circumstances, the tendency of several governments is to deny
the phenomenon, remain silent about it, or engage in an intervention which stand little
chance of succeeding, is cause for concern. Deliberate discrimination against girl children
takes several forms: nutritional denial such as inadequate breastfeeding, insufficient or
delayed medical care, lack of attention causing emotional deprivation, and insufficient
investment in resources. All these have been documented as leading to excess mortality in
the female child. Excess female child mortality has been reported mainly from South Asian
countries.
Another manifestation of gender discrimination against girl children is sex-specific
abortion of female fetuses. During the late 1970s, cases of abortion of female fetuses were
reported from many of the major cities of India. The practice continues to this day, with the
more persistent techniques of sex determination.
58
Bina Agarwal, ed. Structures of Patriarchy, New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1988, p.102.
59
Evangeline Anderson Rajkumar, “Globalization through a Gender Lens” http://www.warc.ch/24gc/ rw.html, p.2

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Unlike excess female child mortality caused by deliberate neglect, female infanticide in
India is very poorly documented, and deserves more attention. There is no adequate data
on the number of cases of female infanticide in India. A rough estimate of sex-specific
abortions and female infanticide together has been obtained by using indirect demographic
techniques on census data, indicating that there have been about 1.2 million “missing girls”
in India during the decade 1981-1991.60
1.2. Female infanticide in Tamilnadu
The first major reporting of female infanticide in Tamilnadu appeared in the popular press
(S. H. Venkatramani), India Today, June 15, 1986. This report dealt with incidences of
female infanticide in Madurai District, and focused upon a particular community in rural
Madurai. Several years later, in 1992, female infanticide was reported from Salem District,
which had figured in the 1986 report (Viji Srinivasan, Frontline, 1992; Asha
Krishnakumar, Frontline, 1992) Salem and Dharmapuri Districts, vanniar and scheduled
caste households are also practicing female infanticide. Data from Salem health unit
districts records for 1994 and 1995 show that vanniar household’s account for nearly half
of all female infanticide deaths. The other castes accounting for a sizeable number and
proportion of female infanticide deaths include various SC groups and gounders. The SC
groups and the gounders account for around 10 percent each of all female infanticide
deaths. It is possible to conclude that while the gounders may have initiated the practice of
female infanticide, it now appears to cut across castes.
Despite the efforts of the Government and voluntary organizations, female infanticide had
not declined in the State. Instead, it had spread from the existing pockets to the contiguous
areas thus forming what Sheela Rani Chunkath, Commissioner for Maternal and Child
60
M. Das Gupta, and P.N. Mari Bhat, “Intensified gender bias in India: a consequence of fertility decline,”
Presented at Annual Meeting, Population Association of America, New Orleans, May 1996. p.4.

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Health and Welfare, called a “Female Infanticide Belt”. The disturbing factor was the
spread of the practice from Madurai, Salem and Dharmapuri to areas such as Tiruchi,
Karur and Villupuram.
The infant mortality rate (IMR) for the State was 54.9 per 1000 (52.5 males and 57.3
females). But this was on the higher side in Madurai, Salem and Dharmapuri, which had
rates of 84.5, 80.2 and 98.1 per 1,000 populations. The rates of death of female children
were 100.3 in Madurai, 97.6 in Salem and 130.8 in Dharmapuri per 1000. The IMR of
female infants had remained more or less the same in 1995, 1996 and 1997, at around
3,000. Though female infanticide was predominant in States such as Bihar and Rajasthan,
where the deaths went unnoticed, the Government viewed its practice in Tamilnadu
seriously.
Salem and Dharmapuri Districts in Tamilnadu have been identified as the very explosive
regions for female infanticide, though it did not come under public purview. The NGO
Alternative for India Development (AID) was working in the area since 1987. Through the
maintenance of the project’s health records, it became clear that the number of female
babies born and registered had mysteriously been dying within a week. For the purpose of
the study, AID referred to the Pappireddopatti block in Dharmapuri where they are already
working and Omalur block in Salem District of Tamilnadu, which represents the lowest
sex ratio of 822 per 1000.
In certain pockets of the Dharmapuri and Salem Districts of Tamilnadu, girl babies
strangely disappear within one week of their births. As soon as the mother delivers, the
first question posed is “Aanna? Penna?”, which means, “Is it a boy or a girl?” Once it is
found that a girl child has been born, and if it is first girl child, she is allowed to survive.

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Otherwise, the preparations, which were made for the delivery of the child, further
continue, but now in the form of last rites of the girl child.
Following is a list of some of the most common beliefs identified in the personal field
interviews that lead to female infanticide:
1. In expectation of boy children, any numbers of new-born girl children are

eliminated.
2. If the astrologer predicts the girl will bring forth doom upon the family, the girl
child is instantly discarded
3. In general, only the first girl child is allowed to survive girls born thereafter die.
4. In a few communities, there is also a common belief that girl children are born
only to take the biological family property.
5. If parents are in debt it again means a death trap for the girl child.
6. In a few communities, there is also community pressure to do away girl children if
more than one girl child exists.
7. Parents who have the desired number of male and female children may choose
female infanticide. They have decided to put an end to further creation of
offspring, but have false notions against family planning.
In these regions a new pattern towards delivery is being adopted. During earlier days, the
delivery was catered to in the natal family (first delivery) and subsequent deliveries were
carried out in the husband’s family. Today, in these regions without these two options, the
delivery is being carried out in an unknown destination this easily facilitates the
extermination of the girl child. Only if it is a boy, do the mother and expected child return
to the village amidst celebrations of joy. Otherwise, the community is informed that either
the baby was stillborn, or was a premature delivery, or subsequently the baby died due to
loss of breath.
The “Salem Initiative,” adopted by the government to tackle female infanticide, for which
this district is notorious, has started throwing up positive signals. The mortality rate for
female infants in the district, stood at 103 per 1000 live births in 2000. This came down to
65 in 2001 and stood at a healthier 42 in 2002. The district has identified 12 blocks out of
20 as “danger zones,” where the female IMR stood at an alarming 100 per 1000 in 1999 a

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figure considered “very high” in the State. The overall IMR for the district also showed a
steady decline from 70 per 1000 in 1999 to 34 in 2002. The state average is 51 per 1000 as
of 2001. 61
Salem District presented a gloomy picture until a few years ago. For example, until as late
as 1999, the Nangavalli block showed a dismal male to female IMR ratio of 1:6, denoting
that for every male infant death, there were 6 female infant deaths. Salem district recorded
the lowest child sex ratio in South India in 2001. This district attracted considerable
attention in 1990s for the prevalence of female infanticide. There are certain blocks in the
district that reported shocking anomalies in juvenile sex ratio in 2001. The 2001 census
reconfirms the rampant practice of female infanticide in parts of Tamilnadu still in
existence, despite overall socio-economic development.
Two major communities in Salem and Dharmapuri districts are Vanniyars and Kongu
Vellala Gounders. The nuclear family is the most common form. Sons inherit property and
the eldest son gets a greater share. Daughters do not have any right to the property unless
they have no brothers. During filed work, the researcher came across the incidences of
female infanticide in these districts. Though some families, including women, are hesitant
to talk about it, there are few who openly justified the practice. Though the practice is more
prominent among Vanniyars, other communities also indulge in female infanticide.
In many occasions, though the mother of the child was not directly involved, the elder
members ensure the elimination of female infant within a week after birth. The more
“modern” method recently observed is to use pesticides or sleeping pills. Some elders use
the prediction of local astrologers (‘fortune tellers’) as a strong justification to get rid of the
daughter who will ‘cause destruction to the family’. Few one old women, narrating the
61
R. Elangovan, “Salem shedding notoriety for infanticide,” The Hindu, Madurai, May 8, 2003. p. 5.

P 62
plight of their family said- “it is better they die than live like me”. Penn sisu kolai, as
female infanticide is called in local language, is justified by various reasons by different
individuals. Though many families tolerate the first girl, the subsequent daughters are
really at high risk. The general observation that the female infanticide is confined to certain
backward communities like kaller and Thevar proved wrong. It has spread to communities
like Gounder, Vanniyar and Pallars.
The field study also indicated that it is not only the poor who indulge in this, but the rich
and powerful in the village also practice the penn sisu kolai. There are few police cases
registered against parents for committing the infanticide. But the arrival of sex
determination tests, even in villages, has given a new method for those who can afford to
pay. Many economically better off families admitted that they avoided the birth of another
girl. However, poor women in the scheduled caste colony said, “We cannot pay for test and
abortion. So we still do infanticide, which is much cheaper”.
The field research study in the villages of Salem district clearly shows the practice of
female infanticide is being substituted by female feticide to a large extent, particularly
among Gounder community. The efforts of government, NGOs and few panchayat leaders
had some impact in reducing the incidences of female infanticide. The pregnant women
already having a girl child used to be classified into a high risk category and monitored
closely by NGOs. The girl child protection scheme of the state government is being used to
motivate parents to care for female infants. Surprisingly, similar effort is absent in
combating female feticide.
In the field study the similarities found among the Vanniars, Gounders and Dalits in Salem
District can be summed up as follows: male child preference is common among all the
communities. In Gounder community they prefer only one child that too only boy child. In

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other communities like vanniyar and dalit, they prefer a boy child though they have a girl
child. Education of girls has become important in all the communities. A minimum
education of 10th class is provided to the girl children irrespective of caste. Nuclear family
is the most common prevailing system in all castes. But, only in the Dalit community are
there two to three families living together in a house having separate cooking. It is a unique
practice among this community.
In marriage practices, dowry is quite common. Though the amount of dowry may differ,
the practice exists. Female infanticide exists among all the castes. But it is more common
among Vanniyars followed by Dalits and Gounders. After the death of parents, the
property of the family is distributed to the sons only. But, in Gounder community some
part of the property is given to the daughters. In their old age, parents need their sons to be
with them. Staying with a daughter is considered most undesirable among all communities
feticide is practiced by all communities. It is utilized more by Gounders, followed by
Vanniyars and Dalits. In all the castes, girl children are considered as a burden and liability
irrespective of economic background and educational levels.
The State Social Welfare Board in 1993 conducted a survey in Salem and Madurai
Districts on the practice of female infanticide. It covered the mothers whose girl children
were victims of this practice. In the PHC records, a majority of female infants were stated
to have died due to social causes a euphemism for infanticide62. The practice seemed to be
spreading outwardly, from the Vellala Gounder community in which it is alleged to have
originated. There also seemed to be a change in the methods used, with a shift to female
feticide, particularly in the prosperous belts of Salem and Periyar districts. The Practice is
grounded in a complex mix of economic, cultural and social factors. Dowry, poverty and
62
Elizabeth Francina Negi,, “ Death By Social Causes- Perceptions and Responses to Female Infanticide in
Tamilnadu”, Monograph #5, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai. 1997.

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expenditure on girls were claimed to be the primary reasons. The strong desire for a male
child to perform the last rites for the parents, or to keep inheritance intact, the belief that
only sons can take care of parents when they are old, as well as social pressure to conform,
which is very intense in a rural community, were the other factors.
2. Methods of Female Infanticide
There are a number of methods for killing the infants that have been handed down through
the generations, much like recipes. Sometimes the infant is fed milk laced with sap from
poisonous plants or pesticides. Others are given paddy (rice with the husks still attached) to
swallow that slit their throats. Other methods include feeding them salt to increase blood
pressure, being stuffed in clay pots, holding the baby by the waist and shaking it, which
snaps the spinal cord, or simply snapping their necks.
The government cracking down on infanticide has given rise to methods that are not so
quick and painless, such as starvation or wrapping them in wet towels so they contract
pneumonia. With these methods, obviously, it appears the infant simply contracted an
illness and the homicide will not be as apparent. Sex-specific abortion is another popular
method of preventing female additions to the family, through which the infanticide is
avoided altogether. With the increased usage of ultrasound devices in the poorer areas of
India the sex of the infant is known well in advance and female fetuses are simply aborted.
A ruthless elimination method that is catching on in Salem villages is to over feed babies
and tightly wraps them in a wet cloth. After an hour of breathless agony, they die. In yet
another chilling infanticide, the “umbilical chord” is let loose, leading to excessive
bleeding and eventual death. The latest technique of asphyxiating the baby by placing it
beneath a pedestal fan at full blast has stumped the police who have managed to register

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63
just five cases of female infanticide in rural Salem in the past one year. This chapter
presents some of the common methods of female infanticide in Salem, Dharmapuri and
Madurai districts of Tamilnadu.
The methods of killing are given with little description, so as not to generate ideas for the
future couples. It was found that if a delivery takes place in a hospital, then a short life
span of a week to 10 days is given to the girl child. If the delivery takes place at home, the
baby is preferably done away with that same day. This attracts minimum attention and in
several cases many villagers would not have even seen the child. If the delivery takes
place during the night, the child is killed and buried by dawn. The followings are few
common methods used in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu to carry
out female infanticides.
2.1. Pesticides method
The formers use pesticides in agriculture and keep them in their houses. Pesticides, which
were a boon to the plant world, have become the bane to the female children. Pesticides
are administered to girl babies. The child makes an unsuccessful long struggle before
yielding to the death. This is considered to be one of the worst manifestations of death.
2.2. Milk of Calatropy method
The child is first starved to make sure that the child drinks in as much poison as possible
and then lavishly fed a mixture of colatropis milk, cow’s milk, and a generous amount of
sugar. It is said that this brings about an instant effect on the child. Once its hunger has
subsided and even before the child comes to know that the milk it is drinking is of different
taste, it starts fighting for its life and in minutes time the child dies a most violent death.
63
Radha, Venkatesan “Female Infanticide: Old Reasons, New Techniques,” The Hindu, Madurai, (June 24,
2001): p. 5.

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2.3. Paddy Husk method
In Hindu religious traditions, putting paddy grain in the mouth of the dead body is a ritual.
In this case, a spoonful of paddy grain with milk is dumped in the crying child’s mouth.
The child is suffocated with the thorny husk and starts chocking uncontrollably.
Sometimes in the place of paddy grain, mud and sand are also used. Needless to say, the
child chokes to death.
2. 4. Chicken Soup method
In villages chicken soup is given to the nursing mothers. The moment the woman delivers
girl baby, instant death awaits in the form of chicken soup. Even before the baby could
open its eye to register its presence in the world, hot chicken soup is poured in its mouth
and child dies due to extensive burns.
2. 5. Salt Water method
In spite of the babies weeping, a deadly solution of soap, salt, and water is fed into the
baby’s mouth. The excess water starts coming out from the baby’s nostrils and the child
starts chocking. Within 15 to 20 minutes the child dies and it is proclaimed that the child
died a natural death due to choking.
2. 6.Wet Cloth method
One of the cruelest methods of killing the child is the practice of covering the child’s face
with a wet cloth. The wriggling child fights until the last minute, unable to catch its breath.
The methods adopted to kill unwanted female children are often cold blooded and cruel.
Female feticide and infanticide may be attributed to the family planning agenda that
strongly discourages couples from having several offspring. When the size of the Indian
family is restricted by government-generated propaganda, the tendency to sacrifice female
offspring in favor of male ones automatically gains ground. Infanticide has been practiced

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as a brutal method of family planning in societies where boy children are still valued,
economically and socially, above girls. One should not be surprised by any number of new
inventions made to make the death of the baby appear as natural as possible.
3. People behind the Female Infanticide
Male family members are the major decision-makers in the practice of female infanticide.
However, their horrible role is suppressed and generally only the mother-in-law and “dais”
local unqualified nurses are portrayed as villainesses. More often, the females are found to
be the ones actually committing the crime. The husband and father in-law, though not
directly involved in the act, are the ultimate decision makers for the crime. The doctors,
priests “poojaries”, astrologers and magicians play a vital role in initiating the act and this
section identifies the mother-in-law, “dais” local unqualified nurses and the husbands of
the mothers.
3.1. Mother-in-laws
Ultimately the mother-in-law is pictured as the culprit for the crime. However, it should
not be forgotten that without the active support and connivance of the male members of the
family such ghastly crime cannot take place. There are also several instances wherein
husbands threatened their wives not to come home with female babies. There is a great
deal of psychological pressure placed upon the women, following the fact that if they
produce more female babies, the husband may opt to marry another woman.
3.2. The “Dais” or local unqualified Nurses
In earlier days, when hospitals and medical facilities did not reach the rural areas, the
daises (Maruthavacchi) were a source of assistance to the villagers. Some turn to people
called Dais, who specialize in sex selection: letting the baby boys live and killing the baby
girls by giving them a sharp jerk, that is, turning them upside-down and snapping their

P 68
spinal cords, and then declaring them stillborn.The reasons behind it are almost always
cultural, rather than directly religious.
Even now, most of the villagers are still dependent upon these dais, rather than medical
professionals, mainly because of their accessibility and poverty. They are not alien and
women feel free to talk to them. More importantly, their services are very cheap in
comparison to the hospital deliveries. When none of the family members want to directly
involve themselves with killing the child, the dais engages in killing the child, as she is an
expert in the methods mentioned above. Thus, when the family has decided to exterminate
the girl child, but do not wish to be directly associated with the act, they hire the dais for a
pre-determined price.
3.3. Elders in the family
In reality, the husbands do not want to earn a bad reputation and image in the society.
Rather, they prefer to be silent on this issue and handover the responsibility to their
mothers. Their silence only reflects their full acceptance of the deed. In many cases, when
the elders in the family know that yet another girl child is born, they even refuse to see the
child’s face. In every nuclear family and even in the governmental norms following the
patriarchal theory, only the father heads the family. In such situations wherein the father
determines each and every act of his house, can the committing of female infanticide go
unnoticed? The elder’s silence reflects only their acceptance and approval of the crime.
4. Impacts of Female Infanticide
Female infanticide practice makes a lasting impact on the mother, family and the society.
The psychological, social, health, sex ratio, economic impacts of the female infanticide is
the major concern for the mission of the church.

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4.1. Psychological impact
The psychological impact of rape, female infanticide and other forms of violence vary
according to the woman, her culture and the circumstances. Short term feelings of impact
may be feelings of shock, a paralyzing fear of injury or death, and a profound sense of loss
of control over one's life. In the long term, there may be profound feelings of shame or
guilt, depression, anxiety and grief, characterized by persistent fears, avoidance of
situations that trigger memories of the violation, difficulty in remembering events,
intrusive thoughts of the abuse, decreased ability to respond to life in general and difficulty
in reestablishing intimate relationships.
Women may further experience apathy, depression, silent withdrawal, hypochondria, lack
of self-confidence and loss of sexual desire. Psychological distress may in some cases be
so severe that it precipitates thoughts, or even acts, of suicide, homicide or infanticide.
Children of traumatized mothers may themselves be neglected or abused.
4.2. Sociological impact
The practices of female infanticide disrupt the social structures of communities.
Widespread gender based and sexual violence adds this disruption still further in intra-
familial relationships. This breakdown of community and family support in turn adds the
psychological impact of violence. Social bonds are damaged if women who have been
sexually abused isolate themselves or are isolated by their families and communities. The
isolation suppression and living with guilty feelings have lasting damages in the the
society. Bonds within families can be irreparably damaged when children have seen their
families kill the newborn girl babies. This creates wrong values for the children and also
the future development in the society.

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4.3. Impact on Health
The victims often present vague complaints that are difficult to diagnose and treat. Further
female feticide leads to unsafe motherhood due to complications of abortion. Due to this,
in India, abortion deaths per year have increased many folds. Women who undergo sex
selective abortions may end up aborting fetus after fetus, continuing the cycle until they
have a son. If they desire another son, the demanding routine may continue for years.
These repetitive abortions on women can only damage their reproductive health.
4.4. Impact on Sex ratio
From what we know of the existing low sex ratio regions, it appears that the market law
assigning a higher value to items scarce in supply does not appear to operate in this realm.
Communities with low sex ratios tend to be more dependent and those with high sex ratios
tend to allow for greater female autonomy and dignity. Low female literacy rates, poor
health and low employment rates are all characteristic of low sex ratio regions, as is a
greater incidence of domestic violence and crime against women. In contrast, among the
high sex ratio regions and communities, women do not live under as many crippling
restrictions, have more secure inheritance rights, are rarely forbidden the right to earn
independent incomes, and tend to have higher literacy levels and relatively better health.
They also tend to have better opportunities for political participation at the local level.
4.5. Impact on the Mother
The impact, both mental and physical, on the woman forced to undergo repeated abortions
may be tremendous. Severe depressions are common and some may even attempt suicide.
The mothers go through the psychosomatic symptoms like loss of appetite, vomiting,
headache, dizziness and respiratory difficulty. The onset of every new pregnancy can bring

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on bouts of terror and anxiety about the sex of the fetus. Medically, repeated abortions can
cause irregular and heavy menstruation leading to anemia. Infection of the genital tract
with fever and pain in the abdomen is common. Infanticide can scar the psyche of the new
mother. It has been reported that some women become mentally unbalanced after repeated
pregnancies leading to female infanticide.
Summary
In Tamilnadu, the female infanticide belt stretches through the districts of Salem,
Dharmapuri, North Arcot, Periyar, Dindigul and Madurai. Hardcore regions like North
Salem, South Dharmapuri, South Dindigul and West Madurai account for practically 70
percent of all female infanticide in the state.
The SAARC countries announced the year 1990 as “SAARC Year of the Girl Child” and
to observe “SAARC Decade of the Girl Child” from January 1991, so as to create the right
environment to secure a rightful place for female children. But unfortunately there is no
improvement worth mentioning during these years, and murders committed against girl
children are on the increase. Wherever facility of amniocentesis is not available people turn
to misusing the scanning facility to identify the sex by sixth or seventh month of pregnancy
and undertaking ‘abortion’ if it is a female.64 Those who cannot afford these tests await the
child’s birth to do away with it if the baby is a girl.
The history of female infanticide in India, in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of
Tamilnadu reveals the fact that though it is an age old practice, it is highly relevant as a
major challenge to the mission in India. The methods adapted to the practice though some
are common, there are new methods emerging to escape the law and punishments. The
64
1 out of every 3 girls does not live to see her 15th birthday, and 1 out of 6 girls will not live to see their
12th birthday. One-third of these deaths take place at birth. Every sixth girl child’s death is due to gender
discrimination. 1 out of 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 4. 19% are abused between the ages of 4
and 8, 28% are abused between the ages of 8 and 12, and 35% are abused between the ages of 12 and 16. For
more information refer: www.cry.org

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people behind the practice are the immediate family members and this shows the need for
the mission is to develop strategies to the whole family and to the community. The practice
of female infanticide makes psychological impact, social, health, sex ratio and impact on
the mother. The history, methods and impacts of female infanticide leads one to ask the
questions of what are the reasons for this practice? Hence, the following chapter will trace
the religious, cultural, economic and social reasons for the practice of female infanticde in
Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu.

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Chapter V
Religious, Economic, Social and Cultural Reasons for Female Infanticide in Salem,
In cultures where different values are placed on male and female children, sex selective
infanticide may be practiced simply to increase the proportion of children of the preferred
sex, usually male. In cultures where childbearing is strongly tied to social structures,
infants born outside of those structures (illegitimate children and children of cross-caste
relationships) may be killed by family members to atone for the violation of taboo.
There are preconceived notions associated with a girl child such as, liability (expenses
incurred during birth, puberty ceremony, marriage, first delivery), protection (Since the
chastity of girls is essential, she has to be protected from any sexual overtures by men prior
to marriage, Parayadhan (She is another house property as she leaves natal family after
marriage), and the girl child cannot carry lineage (In patrilineal society girls are not
considered as carriers of family lineage).
In some cases, infanticide may have been practiced to eliminate children with birth defects
or circumstances of birth deemed unfavorable for religious reasons. The extent of such
practices is often widely debated; for instance, academics argue whether infanticide of
children with birth defects was a standard practice or limited to occasional incidents. A
minority of academics subscribe to an alternate school of thought blaming the practice,
both modern and historical, on psychological inability to raise children
Religious rituals do not enjoin separate status for girls and more so the last rites after death
have to be carried on by male members only. Preference for the son, poverty,
unemployment, caste system and dowry system are the major reasons for the practice of
female infanticide. Since parents do not want to carry ahead the terminal family planning

P 74
operation after having the desired number of children, they also resort to female infanticide
once girls are born. The reasons for female infanticide that one can identify in Salem,
Dharmapuri and Madurai districts are: uneven economic development, poverty, high
dowry demands, male dominance and female suppression. This chapter will present
religious, economic, social and cultural reasons for the practice of female infanticide.
1. Religious Reasons for Female Infanticide
The field study identified the “son preference” as one of the major reason for the practice
of female infanticide. Hence, the attention is focused to understand the religious reasons
for the female infanticide. Hinduism and Islam are focused here because these are the two
main community in the districts selected for this study.
1.1. Female infanticide in Hinduism
The Vedas prescribe that a dowry be given by the bride’s family to the groom. The Rig
Veda states that cows and gifts given by the father of the bride to the daughter
accompanied the bride’s procession (Rig Veda. X: 85). In the ancient custom of kanyadan,
the father presented his daughter with jewelry and clothes at the time of her marriage. In
vardakshina what the parents presented the groom are, in essence the dowry system. The
filed research reveals the practice of dowry as one of the main reasons for the practice of
female infanticide hence the attention will be focused to understand this fact both from the
Hindu scriptures and the traditions.
“Chhore pe baje Thali, Chhori Pe Thekere Phoren” is an old saying in India, which means
“Announce the birth of a son by beating of brass plates but at the birth of a daughter break
earthen pots”. The traditional blessing given to newly married couples is “Ashta Putra
Sowbhagyavati Bhave” which means, ‘‘may you be blessed with eight sons”. Upon
conception, mantras from the Atharva Veda are chanted so that if the foetus is female it

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will be transformed into a male. If prayer and ritual do not produce the desired result,
families that crave boys overwhelmingly abort the fetus if it is determined to be a girl.
In Atharva Veda mantras are written for change of sex of fetus. Adverse sex ratio is from
the very beginning. Sita Agarwal writing on the genocide of women in Hinduism states
that,
“The horrible custom of female infanticide was widely practiced by the barbaric
Vedic Aryan tribes who invaded India. The Vedas prescribe an intense hatred for
women, and female children were considered highly undesirable in the nomadic
Aryan patriarchal view. Indeed, so deep-rooted was the desire for male children
that the Vedas prescribe numerous prayers for male offspring. For example, "Let a
female child be born somewhere else; here, let a male child be born." (Atharva
Veda.VI:2.3)65
The woman who gave birth to a daughter was ashamed, and much stigma attached to a
woman who only gave birth to daughters. Hence infanticide arose as a convenient way of
getting rid of the "burden." Aryan texts sanction this custom: "Tasmat striyam jatam
parasyanti ut pumamsam haranti" (Hence they reject a female child when born, and take
up a male.)66
Indeed, there were several reasons for the practice of female infanticide during the Vedic
(1500 BC - 500 BC), the Sutric (500 BC - 200 AD) and Puranic Ages (200 AD - 1000 AD)
of the Brahmanic Ages (500 BC - 1000 AD). Female infanticide arose from the general
Vedic attitude towards women. The large dowries prescribed by the Vedas meant that a
girl was seen as a burden.
Women were of little use to the Aryan war-tribes. Hence, their numbers were reduced in
order to maintain the high effectiveness of the Aryan war-machine. Sita Agarwal67
strongly argues that the, “inhuman Hindu female infanticide is not due to any `corruption',
but is fully sanctioned by the core of Hindu religious scriptures, the Vedas”.
65
Sita Agarwal, Genocide of Woman in Hinduism, p. 3.
66
Ibid, p.4
67
Ibid. p.6

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During this era, the Brahmins consolidated the power they had obtained during the Vedic
Dark Age to the height of Absolutism. Sita Agarwal states several other reasons why the
Brahmins cruelly enforced Vedic female infanticide.
The Brahmin race has always feared being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of non-
Brahmins. Hence they resorted to the harshest means imaginable to curtail non-Brahmin
reproduction. Female infanticide rotted away at the very roots of the non-Brahmin races,
many of which disappeared from the face of the Earth. The shortage of women led to
unending wars amongst non-Brahmins for the remaining women.
On the other hand, scholars argue that Hinduism is against female infanticide and abortion.
Hindu scriptures and tradition have from the earliest of times condemned the practice of
abortion, except when the life of the mother is in danger. Hinduism teaches that the fetus is
a living, conscious person need and deserves protection. Hindu scriptures refer to abortion
as garha-batta (womb killing) and bhroona hathya (killing the undeveloped soul). A hymn
in the Rig Veda calls for protection of fetuses. The Kaushitaki Upanishad draws a parallel
between abortion and the killing of one's parents. The Atharva Veda68 remarks that the
fetus slayer is among the greatest of sinners.
Commenting on the Hitopadesa, an ancient Sanskrit text, Satyanarayana Dasa observes:
At present, people generally unite only for sexual pleasure, and children are
often considered a regrettable accident. Abortion being accepted as standard
practice, people conveniently forget that life begins at conception, by using
such euphemisms as "tissue" when referring to the fetus. Although
subconsciously they know that they are killing the baby in the womb, they
prefer to say they are "terminating the pregnancy," or "removing the tissue" so
they may feel free of the guilt for murder, thus deluding themselves
psychologically...they cannot escape the punishment for murder given by the
laws of karma, and ...in their next lives they will have to suffer the misery of
repeatedly being aborted.69
68
These verses, along with others, are listed at http://planethawaii.com/~htoday/Himalayan Academy /
Publications/HinduLexicon/DWSLexicon.html.
69
Satyanarayana Dasa, Hitopadesa, Faridabad: Jiva Institute, 1997. p. 20-21.

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Sex selection70, whether by infanticide or feticide, as a result of strong son preference is a
recognized problem in India. Access to modern technology was another factor identified as
critical for the further decline in the Indian sex ratio. Sen argues that availability to medical
resources can not alone explain the incidence of sex selection, finding evidence in
comparing Indian states.71 New technology is not a cause of son preference; it merely
intensifies the manifestation of gender bias where the bias is already strong. In modern
times, India's greatest leader of nonviolence, Mohandas Gandhi72, wrote: "It seems to me
clear as daylight that abortion would be a crime."
Hinduism is silent on female infanticide. The religious traditions and rituals that promote
son preference have indirectly led to the sanction of the practice of female infanticide.
1.2. Female infanticide in Islam
Socially, Islam gives women four different statuses: as a daughter, a wife, a mother and as
a sister. In understanding the woman as a daughter Islam prohibits infanticide or killing of
female infants. This is considered a serious crime of murder. Islam not only prohibits
female infanticide, but it forbids all types of infanticide, irrespective of whether the infant
is a male or female. Islam not only prohibits female infanticide but also rebukes the
thought of rejoicing on the news of birth of a male child and not rejoicing on the news of
the birth of a female child.
This section is intended to provide the reader with a comprehensive and objective
exposition about the status of woman in Islam. It should be noted, however, that it is
highly desirable to have a brief description of women's status in the pre-Islamic societies
70
The concept ‘sex selection’ summarizes the phenomenon of female infanticide (elimination of girl child
after her birth) and female feticide (selective abortion of female fetuses).
71
, Amartya Sen. ‘More than 100 Million Women are missing’, New York Review of Books, 20 December
1990, p. 61-65
72
Mohandas Gandhi, All Men Are Brothers, Autobiographical Reflections, (New York: Continuum, 1980), p.
150.

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from spiritual, social, economic, and legal points of view to provide a better basis for an
impartial evaluation of what Islam contributed toward the restoration of women's dignity
and rights in relation the challenges of female infanticide.
The ancient Arabs considered women a shame and disgrace. When a father is given the
news of having a female baby he is filled with grief and hides away instead of celebrating.
In pre-Islamic Arabia, the inferior status of women began at birth when unwanted baby
girls were buried alive. The Quran condemned female infanticide, declaring that a female
birth should be celebrated as a blessing from God as much as a male one.
The father of four daughters, Muhammad commented in various hadiths on the rewards in
Paradise of raising many daughters as justly and equally as one's sons. Woman and man
are equal in reward and each is compensated according to his deeds. "To men is allotted
what they earn, and to women what they earn."(Quran. 4.32.) According to the Prophet
Muhammad, 'Men and women are the twin halves of each other'. The Quran introduced
reforms that included the prohibition of female infanticide.
Family and marriage are the foundations of Islam. Stressing the equity and mutual support
between a wife and husband, the Quran says73: 'They are apparel to you, as you are apparel
to them'. Muhammad also reminds husbands that: 'The best of you are they who behave
best to their wives'.
One of the most controversial Islamic laws seemingly allows men to enter into polygamy.
A man can marry up to four wives whom he must treat fairly and equally. Sexual relations
outside marriage and adultery are serious crimes within Islam, although sanction from
country to country varies widely.
73
Islam Unveiled, http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46481, p.1

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The Quran forbade female infanticide and granted women the right to inherit, own
property, run a business, receive an education, accept or reject a marriage partner, keep a
dowry, retain their family name upon marriage, divorce, receive financial support from a
husband, testify in a court of law, vote and participate in political affairs. The Quran
advocates the equal rights for woman.
There is no doubt that Arabs committed infanticide before Islam. In Arabia, as among
other primitive people, child-murder was carried out in such a way that no blood was shed
and the infant was buried alive. Often the grave was ready by the side of the bed on which
the daughter was born.74 Although the practice of infanticide had once been general, it had
nearly died out by the time of the prophet.
Female infanticide was usually prompted by one of two economic and cultural (not
religious) reasons: fear of poverty or fear of disgrace. The first reason is associated with
the frequent famines caused by lack of rain and the fear of poverty that would result from
providing for girls who were viewed as less productive than boys. Fathers were afraid that
they would have useless mouths to feed, since daughters were considered mere
"ornaments," as pointed out in the Quran .(43:15-19):
... if any of them is given the glad tiding of [the birth of] what he so readily
attributes to the Most Gracious, his face darkens, and he is filled with suppressed
anger: What! [Am I to have a daughter-] one who is to be reared [only] for the
sake of ornament? there upon he finds himself torn by a vague inner conflict...
The Quran, admonishes against killing of children for fear of poverty and sustenance.
“Hence, do not kill your children for fear of poverty: it is we who shall provide sustenance
for them as well as for you. Verily, killing them is a great sin.” (17:31)
The second reason for infanticide is a perverted sense of pride on the part of the fathers
who wanted to avoid shame and disgrace should their daughters be captured by the enemy
74
W. Robertson Smith, Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia. London: Adam and Charles, 1903. p. 293

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in war. It seems reasonable to conclude that the murder of a daughter to avoid shame is
altogether different from the ordinary type of infanticide practiced on newborn infants.
This suggests that the two motives for infanticide were unrelated.
The Quran (81: 8, 9.) says that on the Day of Judgment, the female infant who was buried
alive will be questioned: "…For what crime was thou murdered?" The Quran (16: 58-59)
went further to rebuke the unwelcoming attitudes among some parents upon hearing the
news of the birth of a baby girl, instead of a baby boy.
When news is brought to one of them of (the birth of) a female (child) his face
darkens and he is filled with inward grief! With shame does he hide himself from
his people because of the bad news he has had! Shall he retain her on (sufferance
and) contempt or bury her in the dust? Ah! What an evil (choice) they decide on!
Islam considers female infanticide a serious crime of murder. The Quran even mentions
the gift of the female birth first: "To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the
earth. He creates what He wills. He bestows female children to whomever He wills and
bestows male children to whomever He wills" (42:49).
The advent of Islam brought profound changes to the Arabian society in general and to
women in particular. Islam reversed or abolished the repressive and cruel practices
committed against women such as female infanticide. In understanding the woman as a
daughter, Islam not only prohibits female infanticide, but it forbids all types of infanticide,
irrespective of whether the infant is a male or female. 75
In Islam the girl child is entitled for good treatment. Zakir Naik remarks, “Anyone who
brings up two daughters properly they will be very close to me on the day of Judgment.”
According to another hadith, whoever brings up two daughters properly and treats them
75
It is mentioned in Surah Al-Anam chapter 6, Verse 151 (6:151). Similar guidance is repeated in Surah Al-
Isra Chapter 17, Verse 31 (17:31): “Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall provide sustenance for
them as well as for you. Verily the killing of them is a great sin.”

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kindly and justly shall enter paradise.”76 Sheir Abdel Azim, refers to this as: "Whoever
maintain two girls until they attain maturity, he and I will come on the Resurrection Day
like this; and he joined his fingers" (Muslim). 77 Thus one can conclude that in Islam there
is no room for female infanticide and the Quran considers the birth of a female as a gift and
a blessing from God, the same as the birth of a male.
2. Cultural Reasons for Female Infanticide
Historically, traditional pattern of neglect and deprivation of females including infanticide,
were an integral part of society. What dictates the priority our society attaches to the male
child? Does an ancient and primitive mindset have the right to decide the fate of the girl
child? Daughters were the expendable offspring as the value system put the premium on
sons. Much has been written about why Indians want fewer girls.
The "Purusharthas’ outlines the four-fold system of an ideal life cycle. This life cycle is
directed towards the goal of attaining ‘moksha.’ This form of salvation or perfection could
be finally achieved through sons, who after lighting the funeral pyre can offer ancestor-
worship. Women are not suited to performing religious training and knowledge. They are
therefore expected to lead a life of dutiful subjugation so that they may be reborn a man in
the next life and thus be gifted with religious privileges. The Hindu Property Act, which
was meant to elevate the status of women, only made matters worse. In order to ensure that
hard earned property is not frittered away to a different family, female feticide was the best
course available.
Several studies have found that almost all societies have valued sons more than daughters
and have shown a marked preference for male children. The field research has identified
76
Zakir Naik, “Women’s Right in Islam Modernising or outdated?: Social Rights of Women in Islam,”
www.islamicvoice.com/september.97/wome.htm -17k. p.1.
77
Sherif Abdel Azim,”Women in Islam Versus Women in the Judeo-Christian Tradition: The Myth and The
Reality,” www.islamicity.com/mosque/w_islam/shdaut.htm - 8k, p.1.

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the desire for the son over the daughter as one of the main cultural reasons for the practice
of female infanticide. Hence the roots for gender bias, son preference, its impact on the sex
ratio and the male centered value system need to be understood for relevant missiological
response to the practice of female infanticide.
2.1. The roots of gender bias and son preference
The roots of son preference in India lie in deeply entrenched social, cultural, and economic
discrimination against women and girls. The predominant system of patrilineal descent and
inheritance legitimizes and propels the desire for sons. Studies have indicated three factors
for son preference in India, which are the economic utility, socio cultural utility, and
religious functions. The factor as to economic utility is that the sons are more likely than
daughters to provide family farm labor or provide in or for a family business, earn wages,
and give old-age support for parents Larsen and Hatti, suggest that a joint family may
decrease the bargaining possibilities for women, which in turn could lead to sons being
preferred over daughters.
… it appears that the joint family structure and its lesser space for bargaining have
restricted the bargaining power of women. The incorporation of these new values in
a traditional family structure seems to take place under the cooperative, normative,
framework of that family structure. As a consequence, the already low bargaining
power and low position of women declines further and the consequent
undesirability of girls increases as opposed to being challenged by the new values.
Low bargaining power for women in combination with the new values and an
overall improvement in welfare seem to further restrict the space for daughters in a
family.78
The socio cultural utility factor of son preference is that, as having at least one son is
mandatory in order to continue the familial line, and many sons constitute additional status
to families. The final factor of son preference is the religious functions that only sons are
78
Mattias Larsen, and Neelambar Hatti,. ‘Family Structures and Declining Child Sex Ratios in India’, paper
presented at the 18th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, at Lund, Sweden, 6-9 July 2004,
p.13.

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allowed to provide, based on Hindu tradition. Hindu tradition says that sons are mandatory
in order to kindle the funeral pyre of their late parents and to assist in the soul salvation.
Studies have shown that there seem to be a connection between family structure and the
adverse sex ratio in India.
2.2. Male centered value system
In a marketwise economy, marriage, family, sexuality, human love and relationships, all
get commercialized. As men are seen as the source of economic value, social investment in
men is larger and skewed against women. The question is why are men valued more when
in fact women work harder?
When examining the aspect of women’s work participation, classical modernization
theories argue that a rise in female paid employment will lead to lower fertility rates and
greater decision-making power in the family, and hence could be seen as a key indicator
for women’s situation. Counter to this, feminist critics argue that there has been a
feminization of labor and that modernization has brought machines that replaced women.
Education of females is a key component for women’s progress in society. Studies have
shown that the woman’s level of education is crucial for not only women’s development,
but the development of society as a whole. Furthermore, educated mothers are more likely
to educate their own children. The challenge is not only to bring education as such, but a
modern education with updated curriculum including the concepts of gender equality.
Numerous Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Non-Governmental Organization
(NGOs) have sought to address these issues on the ground in both urban and rural areas. In
Tamilnadu, for example, a coalition of organizations (including the Indian Council for
Child Welfare, the Community Services Guild and Alternatives for India Development) is
working to change both norms and behaviors in a number of districts that show both a high

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prevalence of female infanticide and an increase in reliance on sex-selection abortion. The
gender bias in relation to son preference and male centered value system are the major
cultural reason for female infanticide.
3. Economic Reasons for Female Infanticide
The field research has identified dowry and poverty as the two major causes leading to the
practice of female infanticide. Hence, in this section the attention is focused on
understanding the dowry system and poverty and unemployment as it relates to the
3.1. Dowry as an economic reason for female infanticide
Historically, dowry has been an integral and institutionalized aspect of traditional arranged
Hindu marriage. The higher the socioeconomic status of the groom’s family, the higher the
dowry demanded. It is laid down in Dharamshastara that the meritorious act of Kanyadan
is not complete until the bridegroom was given a dakshina. When a bride is given over to
the bridegroom, he has to be given something in cash or in kind which constitute
varadakshina. Thus Kanyadan became associated with varadakshina i.e. the cash or gifts
in kind by the parents or guardian of the bride to the bridegroom.
The varadakshina was offered out of affection and did not constitute any kind of
compulsion or consideration for the marriage. It was a voluntary practice without any
coercive overtones. In the course of time, the voluntary element in dowry has disappeared
and the coercive element has crept in. The social reformers of the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries have striven hard for the abolition of various social evils including the
evil of dowry system.
Most men assume obtaining dowry is their 'birth right.' The groom's parents justify dowry
by stating that they have made tremendous financial sacrifices in order to educate their son.

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Therefore, they expect to patch up the hole in their pockets by obtaining dowry from the
bride. In the urban areas girls from the middle and upper middle classes are educated and,
at times, given occupational training. Some of them take up jobs before marriage. All this
freedom ends at the time of marriage, which symbolically represents the "lakshman
rekha."79
Therefore the groom and his parents believe that the bride will be an eternal economic
burden on them. They therefore demand dowry. Dowry is considered a monopoly of the
affluent classes. This is not true because the lower classes in the process of identifying
with the rich have imbedded some of the unethical customs.
The practice of dowry giving derives from difficult religious traditions as well as from the
broader historical, social, and cultural contexts of India. The origins and evolution of
dowry reach back to Hindu marriage traditions. Many of those customs focused on the
characteristics of inheritance and property where there was a prominent relationship
between property, women’s inheritance rights, and marriage.
According to the ideology of stridharama, money or material goods given to the girl by
her parents were a stridhan, meaning “woman’s treasure.” This gift was a sole and secure
property for the bride in time of need. This form of ‘religious non-reciprocal gift-giving’ is
one of the foundations of the patriarchal dowry system in India.
Hindu doctrine is explicit about the social position of women. Portrayals of women in the
Vedic age likened women to Devis (goddesses), with “priests create an idealized portrait of
submissive, housebound women” (though at the same time “evoking the image of mothers
as powerful, protective and supportive”). On the other hand the women were held in
79
Lakshman Rekha stands for the line of safety drawn by Lakshman for his sister-in-law Sita, in the
Ramayana,

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extreme degradation. Forbes80 remarks on this by saying, “nothing can exceed the habitual
contempt which the Hindus entertain for their women…They are held, accordingly, in
extreme degradation.”
The provisions and acts against dowry in the Indian legal code are largely ineffective. The
phenomenon is too pervasive and too prevalent in rural communities to be influenced by
any kind of legal statutes. The effects of the dowry system lead to wife abuse, murder and
female infanticide.
Essentially, a man who can gain more from the potential dowry of a second marriage is
more likely to murder his wife, especially if there is a low probability of conviction. In a
similar vein, wife abuse may be used as a means of inducing a woman to leave a marriage,
thereby allowing the husband to contract a second marriage and appropriate a second
dowry without the legal risk (however small) of committing murder. Although this
economic rational has yet to be adequately substantiated through empirical research, the
argument is convincing particularly in light of the incredible pervasiveness of dowry-
related wife abuse and murder. Incidents of violence and murders of wives due to issues of
dowry first began to be reported in the early 1980’s. By 1994, the Home Ministry’s
National Crime Record Bureau clocked a ‘dowry death’ at every 102 minutes81.
In a similar layer, the dowry system may be seen as partly responsible for the female
infanticide that occurs all over rural Tamilnadu. Because of the same lack of legal
enforcement that has exacerbated dowry-related abuse and murder, the phenomenon of
female infanticide is prevalent among Indian families (particularly in rural communities)
80
Geraldine Forbes, The New Cambridge History of India: Women in Modern India, New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1996. p.13.
81
For more information refer, Women and Dowry. www.sadashivan.com and also Ranjana Sheel. The
Political Economy of Dowry, p.129.

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where the additional cost of dowry for a third or fourth daughter may greatly exceed the
family’s financial capacity.
This entails dealing with individual cases in the setting of their families and the immediate
environment. It also involves dealing with various types of groups, for example groups of
dowry-affected women.
The women's issues (or any other for that matter) are linked with other sub-systems of
society, for example education and health. It is essential that the organizations working
towards the empowerment of women study the impact of the micro-level system on
women's issues and devise strategies to handle it. To illustrate, the educational system is
not geared to the consistent involvement of the girl child in the education system. The
onslaught of contraceptives on women in the family welfare planning program is atrocious.
If all our efforts are not geared towards changes at the macro level they will prove to be
futile. The policy-makers have to be galvanized into action. Changes in the laws, projects
for women and their functioning have to be scrutinized and geared to women's overall
development.
On the whole, most of the women's organizations have been working on the above
mentioned lines. The establishment of the National Women's Commission followed by the
state level commission is a big step towards the establishment for separate identities. These
commissions operate at macro level but do take up individual cases if they involve a larger
issue, for example rape.
Collaboration with international women’s organizations is indispensable to effect global
change in the status of women. Collaboration in governmental efforts is a possible
intervention plan to fight against dowry and other evils related to women.

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In summary, I have argued that the act of female feticide is essentially linked to the 'Dowry
system’; to bring an end to abortions of female fetuses it is essential for Indian
communities to bring an end to the ritual of dowry. Elimination of dowry and of the
negative impact it impresses on Indian social welfare requires a twofold system of policies.
Firstly, the domestic violence, murder, and female infanticide that result from the dowry
tradition must be abolished through increased enforcement of legal provisions such as
those in the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961. Secondly, given that crimes related to dowry
are rooted in dominant Indian social, religious, and ideological forces, the complete
eradication of dowry can only be attained when these social and religious attitudes are
forced to change.
3.2. Poverty as an economic reason for female infanticide
Poverty and inequality have reached unprecedented levels in the world. The World Bank
believes that poverty in India is 35 percent; official government of India data suggests it is
24 %; The National Sample Survey of 1999-00 put 26% of people below the poverty
line.82 The poor worldwide come mainly from the developing countries 83. The poor in
India may have been termed in various categories, but the fact is that barring 15-20
percent of the people, the rest are poor in the sense that they cannot afford two square
meals a day.84
82
Refer. “Statistical Profile of India”, http://techcentralstation.com/071504B.html
83
The United Nations classifies countries as ‘least developed’ on the basis of three criteria: (i) Income
currently set at annual gross domestic product (GDP) below $900 per capita, (ii) Quality of life–including life
expectancy at birth, per capita calorie intake, primary and secondary school enrolment rates and adult literacy
and (iii) Economic diversification–based on the share of manufacturing in GDP, share of the labour force in
industry, annual per capita commercial energy consumption and merchandise export concentration as
indexed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
84
The Human Development Report of 1995 has observed that, absolute poverty has sharply increased from
1.05 billion in the end of the 80s to 1.40 billion in 1995. The economic changes in India during the last few
years demonstrate this type of freedom that the market offers. When the per capita food consumption
dwindled from 510 grams per day to 465 grams per day, a massive growth and expansion is Continue…
registered for the production and sale of automobiles. The sale of cars has gone up 34 per cent and that of

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Poverty is not new to human society and India. Millions of people have died because of
poverty and starvation. Poverty in India is measured on the basis of consumption and
expenditure. C. T. Kurien defines, "Poverty is deprivation for many and affluence for
the few ". He further explains that "the resources available to a society are used to
satisfy the wants of the few while many do not have even their basic needs met."85
Generally speaking, women in India are oppressed, exploited and marginalized. While
there is some change in the upper and middle class sections of the society, in the poorer
sections, the plight of women has gone from bad to worse. The women, in rural India
particularly belonging to poorer sections and Dalit communities face oppression and
exploitation.
The dimensions or concepts of poverty relating to female infanticide can be said as
follows:86
Poverty as material deprivation: This is at the core of poverty. It is indicated by low
income and consumption levels, resulting in inadequate food intake and poor nutritional
status of food, poor health and education, lack of clothing, housing, consumer durables,
fuel insecurity and absence of provision for survival in an emergency, making the
household very specially the women highly vulnerable. Therefore to avoid these material
deprivation struggles people come to the conclusion of enough of daughters and hence
practice female infanticide.
Poverty as isolation and alienation: This is reflected in geographical location, and in social
and political marginalization particularly of rural households. They lack transport and
luxury cars has virtually doubled. When the Government of India claims massive growth in all areas of
production, the rural poverty index ratio has increased from 36.55 in 1990-91 to 48.07 in 1992.
85
C.T. Kurien, Poverty, Planning and Social Transformation, p.8.
86
Refer, M Eswaran,. and Ashok K. Why Poverty Persists in India. New Delhi: Oxford, 1998. Paulo, Friere.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum Books. 1990.

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communication links. They suffer from illiteracy which cuts off access to information and
alienation and interaction with the political process. The alienation stems from isolation
and exploitative social relations and carries a sense of being without identity or control.
Educational alienation causes communication gap between the poor and the rest of society.
This isolation and alienation weakens the poor and locks them to the cozy circles and the
tradition of the past becomes their guiding principles to practice female infanticide.
Poverty as dependence depresses the bargaining power of the poor in a world of unequal
social relations between landlord and tenant, employer and employee, creditor and debtor,
buyer and seller, patron and bonded laborer. Further leads in a lack of decision making
power and freedom of choice: in production, consumption and employment to the rural
poor. This forces the rural poor to work at a very low level of productivity. The condition
of landowners with small holdings but without complementary assets can be worse than
the landless.
Poverty as vulnerability of external shocks and internal social conflicts: This can quickly
and significantly change the poverty status of rural households. Vulnerability can arise
from natural factors (such as drought and cyclone) and from changes in the market
(collapse of commodity prices), in demography (loss of earning family member), in health
(illness of earning members), in marital status (divorce, desertion and widowhood) and in
the labor market (loss of employment).
Poverty can be approached from either subjective (utility) or objective (sometimes referred
to as welfare) perspectives. Most conventional poverty measures are of the objective type
(e.g. poverty lines and basic needs). Only recently has the international community taken a
serious interest in measuring subjective perceptions of poverty. Poverty can also be viewed
in absolute and relative terms. Although often perceived as mutually exclusive, this aspect

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of poverty can actually apply simultaneously. This dual nature is well expressed by
Amartya Sen87 who noted that poverty can be an absolute notion in the space of
capabilities, though relative in that of commodities or characteristics. For example, those
who are incapable of obtaining sufficient food for survival are considered absolutely poor.
Another facet of the absolute versus relative aspect of poverty pertains to changes in
circumstances. For example, if prices rise faster than incomes, the well-being of those who
were classified as relatively poor may decline to levels formally associated with absolute
poverty.
Poverty whether subjective or objective; absolute or relative leads to two types of poverty
as: chronic (long-term) or temporary (short-term). Chronic poverty is usually the most
difficult to address since it is associated with a complex factors. In the rural villages often
the temporary poverty leads them to chronic poverty. Many to come out of the struggles
unknowingly get in to it. The meter interest practice in the villages is one such indicator to
this situation and to avoid this daily struggle the best possible method adopted is practice
female infanticide.
Although poverty and vulnerability are often related, they are not synonymous. Some
groups may be at risk of becoming poor because of inherent vulnerabilities (e.g. different
types of discrimination based on class, gender, ethnicity, or factors such as disability,
region of residence, family configuration). In short, poverty relates to deprivation, while
vulnerability is a function of external risks, shocks, stresses or defenselessness. One needs
to understand these dimensions and indictors of poverty so as to focus the mission to the
dimensions that relates to the practice of female infanticide.
87
A. Sen, Poor: Relatively speaking in Resources, Values and Development, Oxford: Basil Blackwell,1994.
p.124.

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The majority of these who suffer from poverty are youth. Radical changes are taking place
in family values. Already insecure with their identity; young people experience greater
confusion in the area of sex. The prevalence of premarital sex was found to be higher in
urban areas than in rural areas. Teenage pregnancies are reaching an all time high in India.
There are a lot of teenage abortions in India now. All this has brought down the moral and
ethical decay of the values of young people in India. Through my internet search I found
many articles on the subject of globalization and its effect on women. Globalization has
attributed to displacement and modern-day slavery of women in India.
Poverty makes a great impact in the society to carry out the female infanticide.
Unemployment, change in the family values, decay in sex and moral values, abortions are
some of the outcome of poverty in the society. The response of the church in the history
throws light to the present challenges the impact of poverty on female infanticide.
4. Social Reasons for Female Infanticide
As noted earlier, the strong preference for sons and negativism about daughters, dowry and
poverty are some of the major causes of female infanticide. Another research on this
subject states as, “A very condemnable practice that exists especially in Tamilnadu is the
‘Sex practice of father-in-law’ with daughter-in-law and the husband’s inability to do
anything against the practice due to the fear that he would lose his share of the property
from his father.”
It has been found that due to the marriage taking place at an early age and with quite a few
child deliveries, the husband loses interest in his wife and he finds it convenient to find a
bride for his son to have his sexual ‘‘fulfillment’’ through her. These men do not want to
go for another marriage because their existing property would be divided further with the
addition of more children through the second marriage.

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A study done by the Community Service Guild of Madras, in Salem district of Tamilnadu,
though the study covered Christians, Hindus and Muslims; found the practice of female
infanticide only among the Hindus.88 A detailed study89 of juvenile sex ratio may lead to
surprising conclusion as well as provide the data for a longitudinal assessment of the
prevalence of female infanticide. For instance, for the 1991 Census, the three districts of
Dharmapuri, Salem and Madurai accounted for 41 out of the 46 blocks in Tamilnadu with
a juvenile female sex ratio of less than 900 to a 1000.90 Low status of woman and the caste
in the society were identified as social cause for the practice of female infanticide.
In early 2006, The Lancet, a British medical journal reported that there might have been
close to 10 million female infants aborted in India over the past 20 years. 91 A woman
without sons was and is considered barren in Tamilnadu. Ritual expenses are a greater
liability for a girl child, such as, ear-piercing ceremony, cradling, coming of age, marriage,
setting up house, pregnancy and delivery costs. Women's frustration with their own lives,
leads to repeated claims that it is better to kill a baby girl when she is 'clay earth' (paccha
mannu in Tamil) than to let her live a life of hardship. Improving access to education and
healthcare for women and children, raising income-generation opportunities and capacity-
building, apart from fighting beliefs and customs that propagate blind superstition, are
some of the ways in which the girl child can be shown as equal to boys.
88
R Venkatachalam.and Viji Srinivasan, Female Infanticide, 1993. The sample study on the 1250 families
found out that the most of whom were gounders and a few naickers, vanniars and chettiars covered by the
study, 606 had only one girl child 111 admitted that they had done away with the unwanted girl child.
Equally alarming was the fact that 476 respondents said that ‘‘they would have to commit female infanticide
when more than one female child was born to them’’. Most said that they had killed their babies under
pressure from their husbands. ‘‘women said that sometimes the men would beat them up insisting on the
murder of new born daughters’’.
89
Chunkath. Sheela Rani and V. B. Athreya. ‘Female Infanticide in Tamil Nadu : Some Evidence’.
Economic and Political Weekly. XXXII(17). 1997. p.22-29.
90
Sabu George, et. al. ‘Female Infanticide in Rural South India’. Economic and political Weekly, XXVII
(22), 1992. p. 1154–56.
91
Abortion, www.indiastat.com/india, p.1

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4.1. Low status of women and female infanticide
Looking through the lens of hunger and poverty, one can identify seven major areas of
discrimination against women in India. They are: malnutrition, poor health, lack of
education, over work, unskilled, mistreatment, and powerlessness. India has exceptionally
high rates of child malnutrition, because tradition in India requires that women eat last and
least throughout their lives, even when pregnant and lactating. Malnourished women give
birth to malnourished children, perpetuating the cycle. Females receive less health care
than males. Many women die in childbirth of easily prevented complications. Working
conditions and environmental pollution further impair women's health.
Families are far less likely to educate girls than boys, and far more likely to pull them out
of school, either to help out at home or from fear of violence. Women work longer hours
and their work is more arduous than men's, yet their work is unrecognized. Men report that
"women, like children, eat and do nothing." Technological progress in agriculture has had
a negative impact on women. In women's primary employment sector, agriculture and
extension services overlook women.
In recent years, there has been an alarming rise in atrocities against women in India, in
terms of rapes, assaults and dowry-related murders. Fear of violence suppresses the
aspirations of all women. Female infanticide and sex-selective abortions are additional
forms of violence that reflect the devaluing of females in Indian society. While women are
guaranteed equality under the constitution, legal protection has little effect in the face of
prevailing patriarchal traditions. Women lack power to decide who they will marry, and
are often married off as children. Legal loopholes are used to deny women inheritance
rights.

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Gender perceptions are built during childhood and adolescence, depending mainly on
prevailing socio-cultural practices, which leads to lower self-esteem among girls and they
become used to the neglect and tolerate discrimination and injustice. These types of
customs and discriminatory social practices need to be changed urgently with active
cooperation of all concerned stake-holders - the family, the community, social activists and
others. This will help to build self-confidence and courage to resist pressure,
discrimination and abuse.
There is an urgent need for increasing the awareness, knowledge and perception of the
people, and the women in particular, about the important role women can play in family
life, performing domestic responsibilities, making economic contributions and as effective
change agents for various social developments. For progress, women's development is of
utmost importance and for all-round development, women's participation is vital. Women
should be motivated and helped to organize themselves as demand groups. There is an
urgent need for arousing societal concern and for total social mobilization and action.
4.2. Caste and female infanticide
In Tamilnadu, as in the rest of India, religion was not distinct from philosophy i.e. we have
had only a religious philosophy. Even morals tended to have a religious background.
Thus the private and public life of the Tamils was governed by a value system which can
be called generally religious.
Despite its constitutional abolition in 1950, the practice of "untouchables" remains very
much a part of rural Tamilnadu. The caste system found in Tamilnadu in general may
broadly be grouped into three categories: Brahmins, non-Brahmins and the Scheduled

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Castes.92 While the Brahmins are considered the highest in the caste hierarchy, the non-
Brahmin castes are considered the middle level castes.
The more visible middle level castes include the land owning castes such as Vellalar,
Ahamudayar (Servai), Maravar (Thevar), Kallar, Konar (Yadavar) and the Telegu
speaking Naidus; trading castes such as Chettiyar, artisan castes like Kusavar or Kuyavan
(Potter), Kotthan (mason), Thachan or Aasari (carpenter), Kollan (blacksmith), Thattans
or Nahai Aasari (goldsmith); and the servicing castes such as Ambattan (barbers) and
Vannan (washermen). The more visible castes among the Scheduled Castes in Salem,
Dharmapuri and Madurai districts are the Pallars, Parayars and Chakkiliyars.
In the middle level castes, a few such as Ahamudyar, Maravar and Kallar together known
as Mukkulathor (three castes) are relatively more visible particularly in Madurai and
Ramanathapuram districts.
For a long time in a small hamlet, "Usilampatti", of the Madurai District of Tamilnadu,
India a tribe called "Kallar" has dominated. A common feature is the practice of female
infanticide. They tolerate a first-born female baby, but not a second, because they cannot
afford it. Both men and women agree that due to the above mentioned economic
deprivation and social conditions, and having to marry girls means giving a dowry and
jewels plus incurring the expenses of the marriage feasts, it is impossible to bring up a girl
baby.
The word Gounder93 is mainly used as a caste name by the Kongu Vellalars, a Kshatriya
clan in Tamilnadu, who are also called the Vellala Gounders. The Kongu Vellalars are
highly cultured people of the, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Namakkal, Salem, Coimbatore,
and Erode districts in modern day Tamilnadu.

92
For more on caste-based violence and discrimination in India, see Human Rights Watch, Broken People:
Caste Violence Against India's "Untouchables", New York: Human Rights Watch, 1999.
93
Refer the appendix for the major differences between the gounders, vanniers and dalits caste groups

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Allocation of labor on the basis of caste is one of the fundamental tenets of many castes
systems, with lower-castes typically restricted to tasks and occupations that are deemed too
"filthy" or "polluting" for higher-caste communities.
India's policy of "reservations" or caste-based quotas is an attempt by the central
government to remedy past injustices related to low-caste status. The reservation policy,
however, has not been fully implemented. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes' (1996-1997 and 1997-1998) report indicates that of the total
scheduled caste reservation quota in the Central Government, 54 percent remains unfilled.
More than 88 percent of posts reserved in the public sector remain unfilled.
Significant economic and educational disparities persist between lower and higher caste
communities in Tamilnadu. Lower-caste communities are often plagued by low literacy
levels and a lack of access to health care and education. A lack of formal education or
training, as well as discrimination that effectively bars them from many forms of
employment, and the non-enforcement of protective legislation, perpetuates caste-based
employment and keeps its hereditary nature alive.
Lower-caste women are singularly positioned at the bottom of caste, class, and gender
hierarchies. Largely uneducated and consistently paid less than their male counterparts
they invariably bear the brunt of exploitation, discrimination, and physical attacks. Sexual
abuse and other forms of violence against women are often used by landlords.
According to a Tamilnadu state government official, the rape of Dalit women exposes the
hypocrisy of the caste system as "no one practices untouchability when it comes to sex."
Under the devadasi system, thousands of Dalit girls in India's southern states are

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ceremonially "dedicated" or married to a deity or to a temple94. Once dedicated, they are
forced to become prostitutes for upper-caste community members, and eventually
auctioned into an urban brothel.
Summary
The study on understanding the reasons for the practice of female infanticide reveals that
both Hinduism and Islam do not teach or promote female infanticide. Hinduism is silent on
female infanticide and it is not the philosophical Hinduism but the popular Hinduism and
the religious traditions such as the son preference promoted the practice of female
infanticide. Even though the practice of female infanticide is seen in the pre Islamic period,
Islam prohibits female infanticide and it is considered as murder. Quran not only forbade
female infanticide but advocates the equal rights for the women.
The gender bias and male centered value systems are the cultural reasons; dowry and
poverty are the economic reasons for the practice of female infanticide. Dowry as a
practice to bless the couple turned it to be a bomb and poverty adds further boost to the
situation to lead to the practice of female infanticide. This shift is causing more death and
female infanticide. This calls the need for the mission efforts to be geared towards the
changes at macro level. The field study also identified these reasons and the following
chapter makes an analysis and interpretation of the field findings to draw the missiological
implications for the challenges of female infanticide.
94
Refer, Human Rights Watch, Broken People, pp. 150-152. In reviewing India's third periodic report to the
U.N. Human Rights Committee, submitted under article 40 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR) in July 1997, the Human Rights Committee regretted "the lack of national
legislation to outlaw the practice of Devadasi, the regulation of which is left to the states," and added that "it
appears that the practice continues and that not all states have effective legislation against it." The committee
emphasized that the practice was incompatible with the ICCPR and recommended that "all necessary
measures be taken urgently" toward its eradication. Consideration of Report by India to the Human Rights
Committee, CCPR/C/79/Add.81, August 4, 1997.

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Chapter. VI
Analysis and Interpretations of the Research Findings on Female Infanticide in
Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu.
This section will sum up the findings and possible recommendations for partnership in
mission based on the field study made on female infanticide carried out in Salem,
Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu.
1. Analysis of the Reasons for Female Infanticide
In the field research, the following are often quoted reasons for female infanticide in
Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts.
1.1. Property rights and legal heir
It is commonly believed that all of one’s property, both movable and immovable, should
be multiplied. However, at the time of a daughter’s marriage, one must part with all
movable family property in the form of cash and jewels. If a son is to marry, however, it is
assumed that property will be safeguarded and moreover strengthened. Unfortunately, two
different logics bode well for son and daughter. Hence to keep one’ property and desire to
have the legal hair the female child is not preferred in the family. It is basically the
“liability” concept attached to a daughter that is responsible for the degradation of her
status even prior to her birth and death after birth.
1.2. Dowry
At one time, women received very few rights in the natal family and were thus always
considered “Paraya Dhan” (property belonging to somebody else). To compensate for
this, she was bestowed with gifts at the time of marriage. This was purely at the parent’s
discretion and decided in relation to their economic standing. There was no sense of
compulsion or greedy demands as there are today. With boys, a price tag is attached in

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accordance to social standing, educational qualification, and job prospects. A girl of the
similar standing, however, has no economic value. Unfortunately, this is the scenario even
in the so-called “cultured,” “educated,” “enlightened” society. One and all people create
the so-called structure of the society. People in society do not take ownership of the issue
and commonly disregard it as “somebody else’s problem.” Except in a few rare cases, self-
initiative to tackle the problem is totally lacking. Even the poor in the field study were
found struggling in the clutches of the dowry demands, not only at the time of marriage but
through out the life .The only coping mechanism with dowry they found is to totally do
away with the girl child.
1.3. Protective entanglement for girl child
There is always a lingering fear in the parents’ minds since birth, and more so after
puberty, for the safety of the girl child. Here the word safety connotes the fear that the girl
should not be sexually abused or injured. This fear is universal in all strata of society
irrespective of economic status. The “chastity” of a girl is ultimately the deciding factor in
her marriage eligibility. A protective entanglement around the girls should be laid and
strict vigil should be kept to keep the girls away from the purview of anti-social elements.
Without weighing all other alternatives, just for the reason of the “protection” of girl child,
the easy method they found is to kill the girl child.
1.4. The desire to carry on the family tree
Every family would like its offspring to have children and continue the family lineage, so
that even after their death the family will continue. The continuation of lineage, however,
is considered only possible through sons. In matrilineal families, the lineage is passed
down through daughters. It is said that prior to the Aryan invasion, all Dravidian societies

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were matrilineal, and only after the Aryan invasion did the social system change. This
system expects the family to carry on the family lineage.
1.5. A male child to carry on the rituals
Several rituals are required to be carried out by a son. Sons, for example, traditionally
perform the last rites after the death of a parent. Indeed, a strict interpretation of Hindu
tradition holds that salvation in the after life can only be achieved if a son lights his
parent’s funeral pyre. As a result, many religious Hindus strive to ensure they have at least
one son. In families where there are no sons, for that occasion alone sons are adopted so
that the ritual can be carried forward.
1.6. Any number of male children but only one girl child
There is a strong feeling, especially in rural areas, that the prestige of the family rests in the
number of sons in the family. Hence the family is preferred to have any number of sons but
defiantly only one girl. There is a Tamil saying in villages which means, Even if a King
has four daughters, he is soon to be a beggar” Therefore, such urge for a son allows the
family to accept and have any number sons and not daughters, hence opt for female
infanticide.
1.7. Infanticide as family planning measure
The reasons quoted above are all attributed to social causes. However, there are also
parents who do not prefer to adopt any temporary or terminal methods of family planning
measures. Primarily, all the family planning measures are women-oriented. The role of
male is little envisaged. In spite of a campaign mounted by the government, many fears
and doubts on family planning remain. There is also unrelated fear of side effects in the
health and some husbands fear in sexual pleasure after family planning. Hence, generally

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the rural people prefer not to adopt said methods and find it more convenient to deliver and
kill the child.
1.8. Anti-Female Bias
Societies that practice female infanticide always show many other signs of bias against
females. Women are perceived as submissive because of their role as homemakers, at the
same time as men predominantly ensure the family's social and economic stability. The
social and cultural reasons stated earlier for anti female bias are the causes for female
infanticide.
1.9. Astrological predictions
Normally, immediately after the child is born a horoscope is cast for the child, to be used
only for future reference. Ii is surprising to note that in the Vellalar Gounder community,
astrology determines whether the girl child has to be alive or not? This is true only for
girls and not for boys. If it found that there are certain deficiencies in the horoscope of a
boy child, a large sum is paid to the astrologer and methods found out to rectify the defect.
This is normally done either in the form of poojas invoking the gods, homas or sacrificing
of animals to please the deities. For the girls, however, no such chances are taken and they
are totally discarded. This leads one to further understand the dimensions of son preference
and male centered value system.
The analysis on the reasons for the practice of female infanticide calls the church to serious
take up the following recommendations in the holistic mission. Adoption (promoting
Indian adoption), abolition of dowry system, more employment opportunities for women,
compulsory education for children, adult and local leaders are some the recommendations
from the field research for eradicating and controlling the practice of female infanticide in
Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts.

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2. Thematic analysis on the findings from the field survey
In the field study, the above findings for the practice of female infanticide can be grouped
into the reasons for son preference, practice of prenatal sex determination and the causes
for female infanticide and feticide. This section takes these themes and analysis the
findings.
2.1. Reasons for the preferred children
When asked if they considered girls to be a burden, only 39% of respondents did not
consider girls burdensome. When the respondents were asked whether they considered a
son to be a blessing and the daughter a burden, the following reasons were given for
considering 'a son to be the preferred choice': to continue the family name, to make the
family and parents respectable in the society, for social and economic support, to inherit
the family property, and to take care of parents in their old age.
How dowry is lowering the existing status of women in our society can be judged by the
following responses: ‘With increasing cost of living, dowry is also increasing'; ‘Even if the
girl's parents are poor, they have to give dowry to get the girl married”, “It is necessary to
give dowry to make our daughter happy and respectable in the in-laws' family”. The
majority of respondents (99%), in all three districts considered dowry as a major factor
responsible for the deteriorating condition of women and also the reason for the practice of
female infanticide.
2.2. Practice of prenatal sex determination
In relation to the decision to go in for a sex determination test, 56% mentioned the
woman's husband to be responsible, and 34% considered the mother-in law to be
responsible. To get a better insight into the various push factors compelling families to go
in for sex-selective abortion, the varied responses to my open-ended query led to important

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findings. In the field survey, 45% of the respondents expressed their support for abortion
due to various financial reasons. In case of a girl child, dowry is an additional expenditure,
and with the increasing cost of living, it is difficult to manage a large family.
In relation to abortion in the respective districts, an indirect question was posed in the field
survey: 'Who conducts abortions in your area?' The responses are varied from the doctors
to the local health workers. Those who spoke about the prevailing cost of ultrasound and
abortion in these districts, 63% said that it was within the range of Rupees 500-1000 and
the rest categorized it within Rupees 300-500.
In relation to the awareness about the law on prenatal sex determination, it was shocking to
realize that 100% of respondents in all the three districts were aware of the legal provisions
against the practice of prenatal sex determination and feticide (PNDT). The data along with
its analysis presented give some interesting indications and throw light on several very
important issues that need to be addressed in the mission agenda, in order to tackle the
problem in a more effective manner.
The outcome of the study confirmed that a majority of the people in all these districts
approached the unqualified medical practitioners to be mainly responsible for conducting
abortions. The findings further indicated various reasons for the sharp decline in the
female-to-male sex ratio. The immediate cause for the practice of female feticide is that
daughters are perceived as an economic and social burden on the family due to several
factors noted earlier (such as: dowry, poverty, chastity and the worry about getting the
daughter married). In the field survey, majority of respondents considered dowry to be a
major factor responsible for the deteriorating condition of women.
Female feticide is also dependent on the facilities available, such as ultrasound and the
easy and abundant availability of these facilities prompts the people to avail them. As

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mentioned before, awareness regarding the law was found to be very high among the
masses. The ultimate solution lies in the fundamental restructuring of our society on the
foundation of gender equality and justice.
2.3. Causes of female infanticide and feticide
We also tried to ascertain the causes of female feticide through our surveys. The general
perception is that the cost of marriage and dowry has gone up and so daughters have
become greater financial liabilities. The dowry system is invariably blamed. We are not
convinced that dowry alone is the main cause of female feticide. Families that are well off
and do not have to depend on dowry to augment their income are also opting for female
feticide. The real reason seems to be the high status of families with several sons and the
low status of families with no sons.
In short, there are numerous causes for the spread of female feticide and it would be
unscientific to believe that dowry alone is the cause, as is the general perception. Our
perception surveys did reveal that people are aware of the upward swing in dowry demand
and the rising cost of marriage.
About 80% of the respondents were home makers; about 20% had a monthly family
income of less than Rupees. 1,000 and about 62% had a monthly family income between
Rupees 1000 to Rupees 2,000. With regards to their attitude towards female infanticide,
about 80% of the direct respondents and 22% of the indirect respondents considered it a
sinful and crude act. However, their bias against the female child came out strongly when
they were subsequently asked if they would support termination of pregnancy if they knew
that the fetus is female: an overwhelming majority (95 %) answered "Yes".
Only five percent answered "No"; these women considered it to be a sin. On probing
among the former majority group, it was found that 46 % were actually prepared to

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terminate a pregnancy if the fetus were female, while the remaining 54 % despite a
favorable attitude said that they would not actually do so as they had either completed their
family or had two sons. In the 46 percent who were in favor of female feticide revealed a
strong son preference. While about half of them wanted one son, the other half wanted two
sons and considered 3-4 children as the 'ideal family size'. It may be noted that while only
28 percent of the respondents did not consider abortion a sin, 46 percent were ready to
undergo an abortion if the test showed a female fetus, thereby indicating that at least 18
percent of the respondents were ready to abort a female fetus even though they considered
it a sin. This explains the paradox of social compulsion and individual choice. According
to social norms they considered abortion a sin, and yet, female feticide was acceptable. The
main reasons towards female feticide have been categorized into economic reasons and son
preference. Son preference has been found to be very strong in the case of scheduled caste
respondents while it is lowest among other castes. The majority of the respondents gave
economic reasons as the basis of their attitude towards female feticide.
3. Interpretations of the reasons for female infanticide.
From the above analysis of the field study the following interpretations can be considered
for relevant missiological response to the challenges of female infanticide. It is clear that
there is a:
3.1. Need for collective action
Are our girls doomed? Are we heading towards distorted, perverted, daughterless families
as the epitome of Indian society? The term 'sex-selective abortion' is in use in recent years
and United Nations publications also use this expression. But if our objective is to fight
feticide we must know how best to convey the message of condemning feticide to the

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masses. From this point of view, we would recommend the term 'female feticide' instead of
'sex-selective abortion'.
All over the country, abortion is known as MTP. If we start using the term sex-selective
abortion, we will be conveying nothing to the masses. Our lawmakers were tactful in
referring to abortion as medical termination of pregnancy because traditional Indians still
look down upon abortion as immoral, unethical and irreligious. But when one talks of
MTP, the entire subject is put in the medical field. In short, a moral controversy has been
tactfully transformed into a medical issue.
During the past two decades there has been a growing alliance between tradition (son
preference) and technology (ultrasonography). The fieldwork shows that the inherent and
deep-rooted 'son complex' in Indian society has been triggered by medical technology,
which enables detection of the sex of the unborn child, and also by improvements in the
Therefore the challenge in the mission is to promote the legal and medical professionals to
build a partnership in meeting the challenges of female infanticide.
3.2. Correct the misunderstanding on the family planning
As a result of 50 years of propaganda on the merits of a small family norm, there is today
general awareness of family planning and the need for adopting a small family norm. The
fieldwork reveals that men and women accept the idea of a two-child family (one-child
family and no-child family). In the eyes of the people, there is a dichotomy between the
government's sustained advocacy of family planning and a small family norm, with
legislation prohibiting the conduct of sex determination tests and sex-selective abortions.
This mix-up is the creation of circumstances and neither the government nor the people can
be blamed.

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One gets an impression from seminars and conferences on gender issues that husbands and
their parents are pushing their wives and daughters-in-law to go for pre-birth sex
determination tests and abortions. Our field surveys, focus group discussions and our own
impressions do not lend support to this proposition. This research finds that many women
themselves are interested in knowing the sex of the unborn child and they do not see any
moral problem in undergoing these tests. Secondly, most women have an inherent son
complex. They know for certain that their status in the eyes of their family, extended
family, community and the village as a whole will go up with the arrival of a son. Gifts
will flow in, there will be celebrations and relatives from far and near will visit and call on
them. On the other hand, if there is a daughter there is general gloom, no celebrations, no
gifts and the image of the woman suffers badly.
3.3. Networking with health department personals
During our fieldwork we could sense a silent conspiracy between the government doctors,
medical and paramedical staff and private doctors with regard to the illegal practice of sex
determination tests leading to female feticide. The dais and ANMs often act as go-
betweens and collect their honorarium (roughly Rupees 200 per case).
There was a time, when the first daughter was welcome, the second was tolerated and the
third was eliminated. We are now facing the tragic prospect of the first daughter being
eliminated, what can be said of the second and third. Demographers have worked out the
sex ratio by order of birth and it is observed that the higher the order of birth, the lower the
sex ratio. Our field data also confirms this. There is no doubt that if this trend persists for
another two decades, these districts will face disastrous social consequences.
The study reveals that, nearly three-fourths of the women in the suburban area knew about
the sex determination test, and female feticide is preferential both in rural and urban areas.

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Women are aware of the health problems resulting from such decisions but prefer it for
socio-economic reasons: a girl is considered as a liability on account of dowry; her
education does not add anything to the income of her parental family. A son is preferred
for social as well as economic reasons.
The socioeconomic pressures are such that even those who consider abortion to be a sin are
prepared to abort a female fetus. The case studies in the urban area reveal that middle class
women of the area are obsessed with the idea of a two-child family and that one of the two
children must be a son. The study makes it clear that a woman, whether educated or
uneducated, rich or poor, is not conscious of her own identity, which is as indispensable
for progress as a man's. She is unable to recognize her role in resolving her problems
because of the prevalence of systems like dowry, etc. In the end, it may be concluded that
the banning of this test, though an essential and urgently required step, is not the final
solution to the problem. In the long run, social prejudices against women have to be
overcome by improving her overall status in society.
The marriage age distribution of the women shows that 52.38% of the women belong to
the age group 16-18 years. The level of education is quite low, 53% of the women are
illiterate. In these districts 71.43% of the women have one or two children and 23.81%
have three or more children, and 4.76% have above four girl children in the family.
There is a need to make a frontal attack on all the players and stakeholders on the scene. It
calls for concerted action involving the Government, NGOs, civil society, church and the
Para churches, social reformers and individual men and women with vision. How do we go
about in this important task?

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4. Principles in developing the patterns for partnership in mission
The followings are the recommendations in developing pattern for the partnership in
mission to the challenges of female infanticide in general and in Salem, Dharmapuri and
Maduarai districts of Tamilnadu in particular.
4.1 A three-sector model involving the Government, NGOs and the Churches, with
technical back-up from academic experts, social activists and management experts known
for their competence and integrity is suggested for meeting the challenges of female
infanticide. Funds should be channeled to organizations that do not become victims of
bureaucratic rules and regulations and are in a position to take up innovative programs at
the local level. One should not recommend adding to the vertical programs launched by the
Central Government but for local-level initiatives sparked off by NGOs, churches and
individuals with vision and dedication, and run by people who have professional expertise
in management. There are several success stories in India and we can draw lessons from
their experience.
4.2 The Government should sanction funds to concerned NGOs in the health sector to
produce imaginative films (professionally produced), which would be continuously shown
on TV and in cinema halls. Radio and TV (private and public) should be extensively used
to change the unprogressive mindset of the people. At the same time, relentless efforts
should be made to implement the PNDT Act and impose heavy punishment including
cancellation of registration of erring doctors. Medical ethics must play a vital role in
curbing female feticide.
4.3. Unethical, illegal and corrupt practices (alliance between government and private
doctors with assistance from dais, paramedical staff and medical representatives) must be
exposed resulting in summary punishment. All suspected cases of female feticide and

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violence against women must be investigated by the State Commissions for Women and
action against the guilty must be initiated. Female feticide must be comprehended in the
wider context of increasing violence against women.
4.4. In the country, over fifty years of propaganda has convinced the masses about the
merits of adopting a small family norm and there is enough evidence throughout the
country that one son and one daughter is becoming the ideal family composition and
family size.
In the states under study, most people would be content with two sons and would go for
sterilization, though generally speaking, one daughter is considered desirable (but never
two daughters). We believe that government programs which offer financial incentives to
couples that stop after two daughters (meaning thereby, accept sterilization) are
counterproductive and a waste of money. Reproductive behavior cannot be manipulated by
such financial incentives. The new schemes on which we should work must consider
special incentives for girls in the employment market (for example: through self-help
groups) or, in short, empower women in terms of their earning capacity. Only then will
women be valued. This calls for a paradigm shift from the present contraceptive-oriented
approach.
4.5. In the modern world, the print and electronic media, and especially the film media,
will be best instruments to influence the people. This, in turn, calls for a high degree of
professionalism in film making which is mostly absent in the visual material (TV ads,
films, etc.) produced by government departments. The government should encourage the
best film producers and seek the active help and cooperation of informed NGOs, individual
scholars, and social and health activists working in this field.

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4.6. In spite of numerous national and international conferences and seminars on the girl
child, as well as numerous projects and programs funded by the government and donor
agencies to help the girl child in India, there is very little evidence to suggest that the status
of the girl child has improved substantially. In fact, it has worsened, as this study indicates.
Social scientists in the universities and research institutions should give high priority to
field studies and research to understand the deep-rooted son complex in Indian society.
Only then we can come out with meaningful intervention strategies that are conceptually
sound. Universities and research institutes should collaborate with outstanding NGOs in
this regard; many NGOs have a better grasp of field realities than most scholars. On the
other hand, most NGOs do not have adequate knowledge of the methodology of social
science research. To the extent possible, such collaborative efforts should be on an
institutional and not on an individual basis. Donor agencies should also encourage such
collaborative efforts.
4.7. Dowry issues must be addressed head-on by ensuring implementation of the Dowry
Act and taking stringent punitive action against violators in case of dowry deaths and
dowry harassment. Help should be provided in developing a sense of security for women.
Opportunities must be provided for the economic empowerment of women, skill building
and income generation, so that they can earn their livelihood with dignity.
Female feticide must be stopped and efforts towards this have to be holistic. It must be
ensured that every girl born is given her due share of love, nutrition, education and equal
opportunities in life. Addressing gender violence, sex determination, female feticide,
female infanticide and homicide or even forced suicides by women must be addressed as a
major public health concern.

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4.8. The church and the NGOs can make use of the Information Communication
Technologies ICTs to combat the challenges of female infanticide. Today, information
technology has changed the communication paradigm, making it no longer difficult to
reach a large number of people more or less at the same time; and that too enables them to
respond, interact as well as obtain a copy of the information at a low-cost. Information
Communication Technologies (ICTs) apart from sensitizing people against this dreadful
crime and helping them in general to change their opinion about a girl child, can also play
a highly interventionist role by proactively pursuing cases against erring doctors, booking
them under the law of the land. The ‘Save the Girl Child Campaign’, which uses ICTs to
generate and record complaints against members of the medical community indulging in
selective sex determination tests and selective abortion of female fetuses.
An important tool helping the Government of India to accomplish their cherished goal of
all together stopping female infanticide and feticide is a website solely dedicated to Female
Feticide, www.indiafemalefoeticide.org, set up by Datamation Foundation Charitable
Trust. Nalini Abraham of Plan International was inspired to start this portal and since then
has been constantly providing technical inputs. Sarita Sharma from the Foundation, with
her rich community experience, effectively leads the project. This major ICT based
campaigning and advocacy program is to help prevent occurrences of selective sex tests
and selective abortions of the female fetuses in India.
The ‘Feticide’ section of the female feticide portal provides some rich background
information on the prevalence and practice of female feticide, including reasons for the
sex-selective tests. Also covered in this section are some of the technologies responsible
for sex selective abortions. The site not only covers the PNDT Act and the Medical

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Council of India’s code of conduct to crack down sex selection, but also includes a
complaint lodging process in the best tradition of e-Governance.
The complaint lodging process protects the identity of the complainant, and yet provides
an effective vehicle for booking the doctor, maternity home, ultrasound clinic or radiology
clinic. The complaints are retrieved into a database format at Datamation from where they
are handed over to the competent authority for action. The response is also expected to be
sent back to Datamation to enable updating of the database within a month’s time, failing
which an automatic reminder gets published for the competent authority to act upon the
female feticide complaints received. The website has a separate tracking process for the
medical community and for the people in general. The complaints pertaining to the
families, who have indulged in the crime, are forwarded to the regional voluntary groups to
be set up for the management of these complaints by the Government and the competent
authorities. The interpretation of the law in form of demographic data is also put on the
website.
Another important platform for the website is the ‘Pledge Support’ page that highlights
two features: Pledge Support and Information. Through the ‘pledge support’ feature one
can enter the information regarding the type of the volunteer service the person or the
organization is ready to offer, and the ‘information’ option allows one to enter the
information about any ultra-sound clinics, doctors and radiologists to enable database
building.
What can be done with the help of ICTs? Indeed a war needs to be waged against the
female infanticide and feticide in India. Fully understanding that an evil such as this cannot
be addressed in isolation alone; we are also closely examining related social malaise such
as dowry, women’s underemployment and exploitation in the society, education standards

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of the girl child as well as high school-dropouts amongst the girls, early marriages,
arranged marriage system. It is our endeavor to develop sustainable development models
for each of the above listed social depression in India so that these have an impact on
improving the ratio of the females in the Indian society. The principles highlighted above
can guide the mission in developing the partnership in mission to face the challenges of
female infanticide.
Summary
The interpretations and analysis of the field research showed that, the low status of women,
decreasing fertility and consequent intensification of son preference, spread of the practice
of dowry across all caste groups, poverty, unemployment, the green revolution and the
resulting marginalization of women in agriculture, and a shift to cash cropping have been
mentioned as responsible for the increase in the incidence of female infanticide.
According to U. Rai, 51 percent of the families in the Salem District of Tamilnadu were
found killing baby girls within a week of their birth.95 Soundrapandiyan observed that
people are of the belief, "if we kill female babies immediately after their birth, the chance
of having a male child is very high."96 According to Elangovan, people in the villages
around Usillampatti feel that, "…as we have the right to have a child, we do have the right
for killing the same."97 There is a fear among the people for using the family planning
methods, because of their possible side effects.
In the light of the above, it would be important to ensure the followings in establishing the
objectives for mission. The mission of the church can promote appropriate education,
health, nutrition, economic and social development programs and practices that would
95
U. Rai, “Female Infanticide rampant in Salem,” Indian Express, (July, 1992),p. 6.
96
A. Soundrapandiyan, “Dowry-the reason for female infanticide,” Junior Vikatan (a Tamil weekly)
(December 4. 1985): 11.
97
P. Elangovan, “Female Infanticide,” Junior Vikatan (a Tamil weekly), (September 3, 1986): 9.

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improve the quality of women's life. Further, to increase women's knowledge about the
opportunities available to them through various programs and to make these accessible;
The mission of the church need to make women aware about their potentialities, to
empower them and give them opportunities and some degree of independence for self-
improvement, and thus helping them to become self-confident and self-reliant; to make
them aware about their legal and constitutional rights.
The mission need to increase the role of women in decision-making processes in family
life, domestic matters and in community activities; and to change the attitudes of the
society, particularly of men, towards women in regard to discriminatory socio-cultural
practices, and to accord the women their rightful status and dignity.
Education helps individuals to achieve greater self-fulfillment. In most societies, formal
schooling improves employment prospects and earning. Education has special benefits for
young girls as well as adult women; it influences their patterns of child bearing. In most
countries, educated girls, particularly those who go to secondary schools are more likely to
delay marriage and child bearing; the girls with less education are more likely to become
mothers as adolescents. Early child-bearing often limits educational and employment
opportunities for women; young mothers and their children are more likely to live in
poverty.
The fact throws light on the need for rural mission. It is the high time for the Christian
mission to think about rural development focusing on child health and education. Adult
education98 is a high priority in mission agenda and the partnership with the government
needs to be thought and acted. Educating girls promotes sustainable development.
Expanding schooling for girls increases labor force participation, productivity and
98
For more information, Velmayil,C. “ Female infanticide in the selected districts of Tamilnadu”, P.hD.
Thesis in the Department of Home Science Extension of Avinashilingam Deemed University, Coiambatore,
1996

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economic growth. More educated women want small families and are more likely to use
contraception. This also slows the momentum of population growth and female
infanticide.
Those who practice female infanticide defend themselves by saying that, since a female
would be subjected to great hardships after birth, getting rid of the child before her birth
would save her from greater humiliation." Both Hinduism and Isalm do not advocate
female infanticide. Dowry, poverty and unemployment are the major economic reasons for
female infanticide. Low status of women and caste system are the major social and cultural
causes for female infanticide in Salem, Dharmapuri and Maduari districts of Tamilnadu.
The analysis and interpretations of the field survey throws lights on principles that need to
be kept in focus in developing the relevant pattern mission to the challenges of female
infanticide. Hence, the next chapter studies on the strategies to prevent and control female

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Chapter. VII
Strategies to prevent and control the practice of female infanticide in Salem
Dharmapuri and Madurai Districts of Tamilnadu.
India’s legal framework stipulates equal rights for all, regardless of gender. In practice,
however, unequal power equations between males and females have led to violations of
women’s reproductive rights. The girl child has often been a victim to the worst forms of
discrimination. Gender bias, deep-rooted prejudices, and discrimination against the girl
child have led to many cases of female feticide in the country. Strong male preference,
with the extreme consequence of elimination of the female child, has continued to increase
rather than decline with the spread of education and economic development.
The decline in the child sex ratio is not a problem of numbers alone. The very status of
women, and the gains that have been made in this regard over the years, are at stake. The
likelihood is that with fewer women in society, violence against women in all forms would
go up. This atmosphere of insecurity would lead women to be confined within the four
walls of their home. This is not the only manifestation of the threat of serious disruption in
the social fabric. Female infanticide may occur as the deliberate murder of a girl infant or
young girl child or as the result of neglect. If this decline is not checked, the delicate
equilibrium of nature can be permanently destroyed.
This chapter, on the basis of the understanding on the context, nature, reasons and
interpretations of the field survey will attempt to develop possible strategies for partnership
to holistic mission to prevent and control the practice of female infanticide in Salem,
Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu.

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1. Strategies in preventing Female Infanticide.
1.1. Preventions of female infanticide
The Government and NGOs are making many legal attempts to prevent female infanticide.
A bill to amend the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act
was proposed. A campaign for the enforcement of the existing “pre-natal Diagnostic
Techniques [Regulation and Prevention of Misuse] Act 1994 [PDTA] was held. As part of
the advocacy initiative, AID through the women forums decided to take up the Penal
measure as deterrence, as instances were found that even after counseling and repeated
persuasion, did not yield any results in some cases. Various government departments were
sensitized on the issues of female infanticide/feticide.
The media in Tamilnadu very specially the popular private channels of SUN TV, Jaya TV,
RAJ TV and VIJAY TV addressed the issues and popular viewers program in the regional
chapter of Doordarshan (Podhigai) also covered the features on female infanticide. All
these and other efforts in preventing female infanticide need to promote alliance building
with the NGOs and net working with information exchange in the developing relevant
strategies to the challenges of female infanticide.
Women’s groups can be trained and geared up to work at the local level for preventing
female infanticide, and successful prevention of many female children by women’s groups
to be encouraged other women forums to strongly engage in the work. Village and Cluster
level prevention committees can be formed and the panchayat level vigilance committees
can be promoted. Woman participation can be encouraged to tackle the female infanticide.
Female infanticide being a social problem, it is binding to involve the society to check it by
the participatory approach. A fully voluntary participation of the community and
individuals will result in comparatively quick checking of the problem. In order to make

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women participate in checking this social evil, capacity building was mandatory. Women
should realize that they have everything within their reach to check it. Development of
women would lead them to fight their issues out. Development is having access to right
and timely information, access to power in decision-making and access to internal and
external resources to fight the battle of eradication of female infanticide and feticide.
In eradicating the female infanticide, one need to focus on issues related to women’s
development and their empowerment. The mission of the church in enhancing women’s
participation in tackling female infanticide can work to create awareness against female
infanticide, to bring about an attitudinal change towards women, to improve their
condition, to promote education and to cultivate a tradition of working together. The
strategies to promote these at the village level can be made by regular visit of the families
and by the formation of women’s association to identify and enroll volunteers to form
committees on health, education, economic and legal affairs.
The church can encourage forming associations of men, women and youth to fight the
social evil of female infanticide. The Youth association will try to attain basic facilities at
the village level, help to conduct cultural performance, engage in peaceful, democratic
protests when necessary. Women Association is to raise a voice against women, give a call
for women’s rights, to work to generate savings and small-scale trades/occupation
opportunities for women and to bring about their economic development, to foster a sense
of importance for women and for bringing up girl children, to create opportunities and
conditions conducive for women’s education, to try to obtain aid and assistance for women
from the government through government schemes by meeting the officials.
These associations can be trained in local cultural communication skills to create
awareness against female infanticide in the villages. The animator teams by the DSSS

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(Dharmapuri Social Service Society) are one such example to be incorporated in the
mission of the church. The impact will create great influence and ripple effects. Building
the capacity of the people will enable them to fight the battle by themselves.
In many villages the women’s groups saved, sheltered and protected female babies from
killing. Since village birth attendants are the key actors in committing female infanticide,
they may be geared up to deal with the problem of female deaths arising out of female
infanticide. These alliance building and networking efforts will help in addressing the
Mobile education was of great influence in the minds of people in creating awareness.
Propaganda programs can be held for disseminating the information of the market and
public plans. The kalipayanam has made a tremendous impact through their mobile
education and street theater program. This will be dealt more in detail later in this chapter
on “media and female infanticide”.
While governmental interventions in this sector are operated largely through NGOs, the
initiatives, innovative experiments and alternative models that the NGOs themselves have
developed are rich and diverse.
A number of NGOs have been involved in a broad range of activities and programs for the
prevention and eradication of female infanticide. Sabu George groups them as: 99
Reporting specific cases of female infanticide to the police in an attempt to

discourage the practice,
Counseling of an expectant mother and her family by social workers starting
from the time of detection of pregnancy,
Helping parents to get the monetary incentives offered by the Girl Child
Protection Scheme, and interventions, which aim at broader social changes.
Better childcare support to mothers through the establishment of crèches and
feeding programmes,
99
Sabu M. George, “Female Infanticide in Tamil Nadu, India: From Recognition Back to Denial?”, p.3.

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Projects for improving women's access to education, health and economic

resources, and
Consciousness rising for women about women's subordination in a patriarchal
society.
These efforts have demonstrated the success of alternative models of empowerment of
women and development of children in the areas of welfare and support services; micro-
credit, employment and income generation activities, awareness generation/gender
sensitization programs, and organizing women into self-help groups. The Central Social
Welfare Board, an apex organization for voluntary action, has been networking with more
than 12,000 voluntary organizations. It is time that all these voluntary efforts were
streamlined and redirected into effective channels of operation, besides ensuring an even
spread of the voluntary effort all over the country.
There are several problems with many of the above strategies, rendering them largely
ineffective. While financial incentives for the education of girls are good, the problem of
the state providing money that will be available when the girl is aged 21, around the time
of marriage, is that it helps to legitimize the (illegal) practice of dowry.
In fact, many NGO workers find that the communities usually ignore their pleas against
female infanticide. Hence, they have used the tactic of threatening families who they fear
may commit female infanticide with being reported to the police. Many have had no
intention of acting on these threats because they also fear that actually reporting a family to
the police would result in physical violence against them from the community.
Where a case of female infanticide has been reported to the police, it has not usually
resulted in a successful prosecution of those who committed the crime. Too often, the 'first
information reports' are filed several days after the incident, and are incomplete. The
chances of a successful prosecution are therefore greatly reduced and with many other

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crimes demanding attention, there is not much enthusiasm for taking cases of female
infanticide to court.
At the village level, the police have used the threat of registering cases of female
infanticide as an opportunity to extract bribes from the families concerned. 100 Several
instances where local police were reportedly given bribes to cover up cases of female
infanticide were brought to attention in Madurai and Salem by local people and some NGO
workers. Health officials in Salem have informed the researcher that there have been
occasions when the local police approached them for a list of all female births, so that they
could visit the families concerned and try to find due favors.
One organization that has reported cases of female infanticide to the police subsequently
found that parents were reporting the deaths of female infants from natural causes, or that
they had been stillborn. In fact, there has been an increase in the reported number of female
infant deaths from natural causes. Sabu George remarks that,
“Some parents have succeeded in having death certificates falsified by bribing

doctors. Public health officials in Salem district have personally acknowledged to
me that they do not formally report female infant deaths, owing to community
pressure on local health workers.”101
Furthermore, a change in the method of killing infants has been observed following the
exhumation of bodies to get forensic evidence when it was suspected that an infant had
been a victim of infanticide. People began to adopt methods such as starving the baby to
death, which, unlike poisoning, leaves no forensic evidence as to the cause of death.
In their attempt to foil instances of such misreporting, NGO workers have sought the help
of doctors to examine newborn girls suspected to be at risk of female infanticide, to
confirm that they are healthy, thus preparing to have medical opinion ready if a case has to
100
G. Aravamudan, “The killing fields: female infanticide,” The Week, (Kottavam, 3 April,1994), p.12.
101
Sabu M. George, “Female Infanticide in Tamil Nadu, India: From Recognition Back to Denial?”,p.3.

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be filed with the police. Families are also known to have started killing infants far away
from the area where the reporting NGOs are working. Criminal prosecution of such
families is not practical because it depends on the cooperation of the police in different
jurisdictions. The prevention strategies need to consider these dimensions in developing
the partnership in mission.
1.2. Long-term strategies in preventing female infanticide
The strategies such as alliance building, networking with information exchange and mobile
education in preventing female infanticide as discussed above can be done from outside the
community. The long term strategies need effective presence in the community in
implementing them. For NGOs, while there is no doubt that fear has prevented some cases
of female infanticide in the short run, there is always a risk that this will be at a
considerable cost to the relationship between NGO workers and the community. It could
destroy mutual respect and trust, negatively affecting other NGO activities and any hope of
making longer-term strategies.
The lack of dependability of long-term donor support adversely affects female infanticide
prevention programs. Most prevention programs are funded for only two to three years,
and some for only one year. This is not just a problem with female infanticide, but with all
donor-dependent programs, which are at the mercy of donors' changing priorities and
preferences. The short-term duration of funding encourages, if not forces, unrealistic goals
on NGOs, to get support. Yet it often takes two years in the best of conditions to gain the
trust of a community before a subject such as female infanticide can even be mentioned.
Even then, a group may only be able to get a rough idea of the incidence of deaths and of
which groups of families are more likely to commit female infanticide.

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Long-term social intervention strategies, which enhance women's status, carried out both
by government and NGOs are most likely to succeed in reducing and eventually
eradicating female infanticide. These would have a better chance of success if the social,
cultural and political leaders of Indian society were to take a public position against it and
put forward actions that will lead to social transformation in favor of gender equality.
The long-term strategies should include education and empowerment of women.
Empowerment of rural marginalized women and education to improve their lot will
heighten their status in the society. As the women sangams and the federation gain in
importance and play a greater role in the development of the area, it is in the hopes that
their presence and the politico-economic strength they enable will help curb the practice.
Local churches should take initiative to promote the work of the woman sangams.
Media, both print and electronic, play a very significant role in removing gender bias and
developing a positive image of the girl child in the society, but in a county like ours where
there are problems in reaching the backward rural and tribal areas, a mix of mass media
with various traditional forms of communication may provide a more effective alternative
to influence the illiterate and the poor. Christian mission should consider such programs as
part of their mission to the society. The Sound and Light program of FMPB, (Freiends
Missionary Prayer Band) can be considered as a model for these attempts.
Enhancing sensitization to gender issues to influence the policy makers, planners,
administrators and enforcement machinery is another important strategy. The nodal
Department of Women and Child Development has already launched special efforts to
develop a positive image of the girl child and women. Christian mission can develop
possible partnership in promoting the values of life.

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It is not easy to change overnight the attitude of even women towards female infanticide.
Even if the women are prepared to understand and accept the need to change, the social
situation and the family environment prevent them from doing so. Therefore, young
married couples and pregnant women were given counseling so that they could cope with
the situation, because they are surrounded by in laws and neighbors who are pro-female
infanticide.
The practice of using amniocentesis for sex determination shall be banned through law and
practitioners indulging in or abetting such acts shall be punished severely. Amniocentesis,
where necessary, will be performed only in government or approved medical institutions to
prevent the practice of using amniocentesis for purpose of sex determination Public
education on the illegality of fetal sex determination and sex selection abortion will be
accompanied by positive messages on the value of daughters Advertising of sex
determination techniques shall be banned forthwith and stringent measures will be taken
against the offenders.
Media will be effectively used to bring about attitudinal changes towards the girl child.
There should be a trust on elimination of gender disparities in infant and under-5 child
mortality, though gender sensitive monitoring in mortality starting from the field level.
Priority will be given for educating parents on the importance of providing adequate food
for the girl child. Extensive use of media can be promoted for the sensitive promotion of a
positive image of women and girls.
There is a need for the development of school based strategies for inculcating of positive
self-image amongst girls. The educational system can consider on concerted efforts to
break the gender stereotypes particularly at the higher levels. The schools can attempt for
conscious inputs into curriculum, textbooks, teacher education institutional planning

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supported by career guidance, and counseling. Christian educational institutions can come
forward to this initiative in the schools.
The strategy of keeping a close watch on the pregnant women for six months (three months
before delivery and three months after it) to this end, panchayat level vigilance committees
are to be formed, comprising two leaders from each sangam to undertaken vigilance work
in their respective villages. A special committee is to be formed within the federation,
where the main job would be to keep a watch on pregnant women. Local church should
encourage their members to get involved in these sangams.
Activate advisory, planning supervisory committees to work closely with the district
administration and block-level officers of various departments like health, nutrition, police,
Block development Officer (BDO), village administrative officer and teachers. Christian
mission should look for possible partnership with these committees in their area.
Female infanticide programs should include strategies to modify and liberalize the
traditional cultural values that are strongly held by the affected communities and form a
Collective of likeminded NGOs at the district level. For any such programs to be effective,
it must cultivate more positive attitudes in the affected communities and acceptance of
social change, particularly in relation to girl children. Such intervention programs should
target middle socio-economic groups in which the tendency and probability of female
infanticide is supposed to be higher. Also, these programs should target the male
population of the affected communities, since compared to females; males are more
vulnerable to developing a tendency towards female infanticide.
Since the probability of female infanticide is indicated in many of the affected
communities, NGOs working in these areas must build up legal and social pressure to
counter this practice.

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Intervention programs for village health workers must be implemented. Reporting of these
deaths must be systematized. Some kind of vigilant monitoring committee or group should
be formed in the Panchyats, to keep track of births and deaths. Maintain a record of
birth/deaths sex wise as well as age wise, and monitor the upbringing of girl children in
terms of nutrition and preventive health care.
This section highlighted the challenges faced between the donors and NGOs, between the
NGOs and the Government. These challenges need to be addressed in developing the long
term strategies in developing the partnership in mission.
1.3. Monitoring the effectiveness of the strategies
It is imperative to implement and monitor the policies and programs for the promotion of
equality for women in political, legal, economic, educational and social spheres. Programs
must avoid a situation in which the 'successful' prevention of female infanticide results in
longer-term neglect of saved girl children. Such deprivation results in stunted growth and
malnourishment and has adverse functional consequences such as impaired mental
abilities, poor physical capability and a high risk of childhood mortality.
Close monitoring over the birth and growth of female children in villages will have to be
ensured. There is also a need felt to monitor the health department activities. The Village
Health Nurse should furnish a list of pregnant mothers in the 8th or 9th month of pregnancy
to the Primary Health Center and the Village Administrative Officer concerned so that
immediately after birth, necessary entry will be made in the Birth Register of the Village
and the possible omission of the birth of a child and subsequently its death due to female
infanticide would be averted.
The effectiveness of different strategies to reduce rates of female infanticide is currently
unknown and will be difficult to assess. First, a standard definition of a 'saved' baby girl is

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needed in order to collect reliable data on the number whose deaths have been prevented.
Because the first girl child is seldom, if ever, a victim of female infanticide, a definition
currently used by one organization is the number of surviving girls who have a living
sister. This definition would be appropriate in areas of high incidence, where many
families will keep only one girl alive.
However, in other areas it will overestimate the number of saved baby girls, as not all
families will kill a second girl even in the absence of any intervention. For the time being,
it is as good a working definition as any currently available. It is also important to monitor
whether there is a shift in practice taking place in Tamilnadu from female infanticide and
excess girl mortality to sex-specific abortion, as has been noticed in Punjab and Haryana.
Along with these steps, it is imperative to implement policies and programs for the
promotion of equality for women in political, legal, economic, educational and social
spheres.
The following three layers on monitoring of the preventive strategies can be said as:
The first layer is, at the village level, to conduct periodic meetings in villages under the
leadership of the popularly accepted men of the villages who are called “Oor Gounders”
and with the assistance of local Village Health Nurse, Rural Welfare Office, Revenue
Inspector, and female workers of Social Welfare Department, Integrated Child Department
Project, Integrated Nutrition Project, and local Mahila Samajams, etc., to discuss the
eradication of this evil practice.
The second layer is, at the Block level, to form a committee with the respective Tahsildar
as Chairman, the Block Development Officer as Vice Chairman, the officials of
Departments connected with the Women Welfare, leading members of the Madhar
Sangam of the local area and the concerned Inspector of Police as Member.

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The third layer is, at the District level, to form and Informal Committee with Collector as
Chairman and all political leaders, leading Social Workers and the District heads of
Departments which are looking after the women’s welfare.
The information about the death of a girl child within one year should be brought to the
notice of the Tahsildar, to conduct a detailed enquiry about the death of the child and come
out with a report on the cause of death. If any foul play is suspected, criminal action can
be initiated against the parents of the child and also the local witch or the astrologer or any
person who abets the commission of the office.
The birth of the child should be registered in the Primary Health Centre, with the names of
father and mother and they should keep a close watch over the healthy growth of the child.
The village Health Nurse attached to the Maternity Sub-center of Health Department and
the concerned Village Administrative Officer should be made responsible to report about
the death of the female children in the villages and the local Medical officer of the primary
Health Center should also be held responsible for such death of children in their respective
area.
Large numbers of groups of women can be formed under DWCRA Scheme (Development
of Women and Children in Rural Areas). Under the Tamilnadu Women Development
Project implemented under International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and
other such resources can be channeled to the women groups for develop their economic
standard in the society. These groups can also propagate the evils of female infanticide and
various welfare measures undertaken by Government to boost the social status and security
of the women in the villages. There is a need for partnership in monitoring the
effectiveness of the strategies to female infanticide.

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1.4. Legal assistance for victims of female infanticide
The Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994
was enacted to check female feticide. The Act came into force in 1996. During the course
of the implementation of this Act, certain inadequacies and practical difficulties in its
administration came to the Government’s notice. At the same time, newer techniques have
been developed to select the sex of the child even before conception leading to a further
decline in the sex ratio.
The Court had laid down that amendments to the PNDT Act and the amended Act came
into force from February 14, 2003. Its main purpose has been to ban the use of sex-
selection techniques before or after conception as well as the misuse of pre-natal diagnostic
techniques for sex-selective abortions and to regulate such techniques. The mission of the
church is to promote these legal initiatives to her local situation to ensure the protection of
the life of the female feticide.
The NGOs associated with the fight against female infanticide have stressed the need for a
change in the interpretation of the law. The present situation reveals that the state has failed
to function and is therefore unable to protect the victims. The attempts by the NGOs have
made only appeals and nothing more has been accomplished.
Similarly, in trying to convict those who go to sex-determination clinics, the legal system
cannot help NGOs very much. It is very difficult to prove that the test was conducted in
order to determine the sex of the fetus, as clinics do several tests on pregnant women for
various reasons. Although there is a law, there are too many loopholes in it for it to be
implemented as a case of professional misconduct, and strike the doctor off the registers
and confiscate his license to practice.

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The judgment in the case of female infanticide, only the mother of the departed two-day
old infant was convicted and given life imprisonment under 302 IPC102. Though the father
of the dead infant was also accused, he was acquitted since it was contended that the infant
was under the care and protection of the mother; the two-day old infant could be handled
only by the infant's mother and no other person could have had access to her. The
judgment reveals the gender bias against women, and is another instance of the violence on
women. The judgment reflects the values of a patriarchal system. All family members who
are partners in the act of female infanticide should be brought before the law and be
seriously punished. Husbands and mothers-in-law are the partners in most of the killings.
There is a great need to get the legal experts in developing the strategies to the partnership
in mission.
2. Strategies in controlling the Female Infanticide
The findings of the research indicate that, firstly, the villages in which female infanticide
occurs tend to be remote with less educated population than villages with no cases of
female infanticide. Although the gounders involved in female infanticide live in remote
villages, they comprise the upper social stratum of their villages. Secondly, the villages in
which female infanticides occurred (in Salem and Dharmapuri) are less 'developed' than
the non-infanticide villages. Although one cannot assume that by simply bringing
'development' to the more remote and less 'developed' villages would necessarily bring
about an immediate reduction in female infanticide, this is a possibility that should be
further investigated.
Thirdly, a simple biomedical approach to improved infant mortality rates in the area would
have only a small effect in changing the 'unwanted' status of certain daughters. A holistic
102
Karuppayeev’s State, through Inspector of Police, Usilampatti police station in Cr.No.49/94, in the court
of the Second Additional District and Sessions Judge, Madurai, dated 24 December, 1996, S.C.No.173/95.
SIRD has appealed against this judgment. The state is drafting a new bill prohibiting female infanticide.

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approach is required for changing such a complex system of values performing to girls and
women, and an extensive study of the underlying social dynamics in this micro-region
would be helpful in constructing policies necessary to reduce female infanticide.
In terms of public health involvement, the intensive home visitation system combined with
carefully maintained household-by-household birth records, has proved to be effective
elsewhere in India in reducing deaths of unwanted daughters and promoting pregnancy
planning to prevent future unwanted births.103 The following recommendations are made
with special reference to Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts. The findings under
prevention of female infanticide are also recommended in controlling and eventually to
eradicate this evil in the society. The following components need to be considered in
developing strategies to control female infanticide.
2.1. Attitude change and public participation
The attitude needs to be modified between sex determination and selective abortions. The
amniocentesis test should be completely banned in all the states of India. However, there
are two schools of thought about banning the sex selective abortions. According to one
group, these type of abortions are unjustified since the fetus has an absolute right to live
and hence the test should be banned. The other group argues that when the woman has the
right to choose the number of children she should have, why not the sex of the baby so the
test should not be banned. Hence, it is going to be extremely difficult to establish a nexus
between sex determination and selective abortions.
The law alone cannot get rid of female feticide and infanticide, hence, steps should also be
taken to create public awareness about this menace and educate them about the daughter’s
role in supporting the parents in their old age. To increase awareness on the value of the
103
For a discussion of Ludhiana CMC's approach, see Barbara D. Miller, “Female Infanticide and Female
Child Neglect in Rural North India” in Nancy Scheper-Hugbes (ed.), Child Survival: Anthropological
Perspectives on the Treatment and Maltreatment of Children, Reidel: Boston, 1987. pp. 95-112.

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girl child, adult education programs in the literacy mission should be further strengthened.
The mind set and attitude needs to be changed in the society to promote public
participation in combating female infanticide. This will focus the attention to treat the
cause of the problem than the cure for the problem. The strategies in controlling female
infanticide should aim to the root of the evil.
2.2. Promoting adoption
Adoption undoubtedly offers an important avenue not only to save the babies from the
female infanticide but also for the care and protection of an orphaned, abandoned, destitute
or neglected children. There are 23 licensed agencies to take up adoption in Tamilnadu.
These agencies are functioning at Chennai, Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Trichy, Tuticorin,
Madurai, Salem, Cuddalore, Namakkal, Dindigul, Nagapattinam and Tirunelveli. Out of
23, 7 agencies are recognized to do inter-country adoption.
Steps are being taken to identify at least one adoption agency in each district of Tamilnadu.
The Government has been encouraging people to adopt children by sensitizing them on
issues relating to adoption. District Social Welfare Officers are the Nodal Officers for
adoption programs. Training has been given to the Social Workers of the newly licensed
agencies. Refresher courses to all the Social Workers of all the 23 licensed agencies have
been given. Licensed agencies are authorized to do legal adoption. This attempt of
adoption though indirectly promote the neglect of the female child will promote
controlling the female infanticide.
The mission involved in saving the babies and running the baby rescue homes face great
challenge in raising the children. The best possible solution recommended in such
interventions is to promote adoption. It is the high time such partnership efforts needs to be
explored and developed in controlling female infanticide.

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2.3. Provide counseling to control female infanticide
The risk couples in each panchayat need to be identified. When the woman becomes
pregnant among the risk couples, counseling sessions can begin along with members of the
family, mainly the husband and the mother-in-law. These counseling sessions can continue
until the delivery takes place. The family can be counseled on the positive role model of
girl children, the injustice being created to the human race by sheer elimination The local
church can play a significant role in controlling the female infanticide.
Alternative for India Development (AID) has lunched the counseling sessions in the
Omalur block of Salem district and after successful launching of the program there have
been instances of girl children refusing to marry before the age of 18, children themselves
taking initiatives in thwarting the attempts of female infanticide in their families. These
case illustrations have been recorded as well. The girl babies saved during the last five
years from female infanticide 1995-2000 is as follows: 104
AID: Girl babies saved from female infanticide from 1995-2000
Year Registered Death of Death of Girl babies saved

Female females before females before through
Births 30 days one year counseling.
1995-96 248 38 9 20
1996-97 521 48 7 51
1997-98 563 28 21 98
1998-99 514 48 03 63
1999-2000 594 20 04 42
Total 2440 182 44 274
The mission of the church need to promote the change in the attitudes towards female
children, promote adoption to the babies saved from the practice and provide counseling to
the high risk people in the society to control the practice of female infanticide.
104
For more information refer AID Annual Report 2001.

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3. Intervention Plans to prevent and control Female Infanticide
Once the potential families were detected, the intervention for prevention of female
infanticide and promotion of female children may be carried out at the individual, group
levels, social, administrative, legal and economic levels.
3.1. Individual interventions plans
The context of female infanticide demands individuals to get involved in their local
situation to prevent sand control female infanticide. This section highlights the
psychological, physical and educational intervention plans and more can be presented in
the group intervention plans.
Psychological interventions can be made by counseling potential families (both male and
female members) to prevent female infanticide. Family support services through collateral
sources (close relatives, neighbors and friends) to change the attitude. It can provide
alternative positive role models through case illustration (creating cases from the legends,
epics, popular stories and living instances from their own village).
Physical or health interventions can be made by promoting family planning services
through informed choice, registering pregnant women, fostering the values of pro-life,
encouraging delivery in the hospital (decreased chance for female infanticide), promoting
to have the delivery in the mother’s home (invariably female infanticide is occurring in the
husbands house, of course it increases the burden in the natal family).
Encourage breast-feeding (if the mother develops an attachment with the new born, the
probability for female infanticide is less) and by rendering neo-natal services to the new-
born babies. Educational interventions can be made by encouraging the enrollment of
female children, reduction in drop outs among female children, promotion of vocational
training to women and by family life education.

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3.2. Group intervention plans
This can be carried out by the formation of group or strengthening of existing groups
(village panchayat women and youth groups), practice of group actions by involving
potential families (male and females) in group activities such as discussion and debates on
female infanticide, camps, training on detection, rendering group support services,
promotion of female child and group decision making and group actions against female
infanticide and by group monitoring of the new-born baby in the first week . Some of the
above individual intervention plans can also be undertaken in the groups to control female
infanticide.
If one carry out the pre-birth elimination of female (PBEF), one denies the right of female
child to be born, the women bearing the fetus to take a decision about her health and
family. The interventions by the group will make great impact on such situations. The
different factors linked to the prevalence of PBEF can be better addressed by the group as
it demands social, cultural, legal and economical dimensions related to the evil.
The local church can encourage its members to join as volunteers and contribute to the
various activities of the existing network such as the Campaign Against Pre-Birth
Elimination of Females (CAPEF)105 and help in disseminating information on the issue of
PBEF and female infanticide. Further, they can report cases of PBEF to the appropriate
authority in the local area. The teachers in the congregation can become members of the
campaign and provide valuable information to students about the issue and encourage them
to join us as volunteers
105
To achieve these tasks, CAPEF organizes volunteer training programs for students, orientation programs
and workshops for students and teachers, poster and painting competitions, exhibitions and choreography
events on the theme of PBEF, film screenings, and seminars, debates and street plays on the issue.

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The women fellowships and the woman as a mother and mother-in-law can make an very
useful contribution by not differentiating between a son and a daughter and encouraging
gender equality at home. The men fellowships as fathers can help by not putting pressure
on their wife for a son. Support the wife if the family and relatives are pressurizing her to
undergo fetal sex-determination. Do not force the wife to determine the sex of the fetus and
undergo abortion if it is a female child, or coerce her into going in for pre-conception sex
selection.
The medical professionals in the congregation should take the responsibility to give correct
information to the clients, and assist them in making the right decision:
NOT carrying out sex determination tests, NOT revealing the sex of the fetus to parents or
family, NOT performing abortions beyond the permitted time limits under the law, and
NOT providing assistance in pre-conception sex selection. The media persons and the
writers can make a positive contribution by publishing articles to generate awareness about
the heinous practice of PBEF, the law prohibiting it and difficulties in the implementation
of the law. Support the cause of the girl child through your writing, photographs films,
documentaries or any other medium.
3.3. Social intervention plans
Social intervention can be made by the promotion of community education through local
and electronic media to desensitize the communities with the intention to commit female
infanticide. Application of the media message on female infanticide must be at the basis of
the existence of the problem. Otherwise, the community, which has no knowledge about
the problem, may never come to know of it. It may have a negative effect. Careful
application of media message is needed.

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The quality of family planning services should be improved in order to remove the
misconceptions regarding family planning methods. This in turn will definitely motivate
couples to avoid the unwanted pregnancy and thereby reduce the chance of killing the
unwanted fetus/child.
As the economic struggle is one of the main causes for female infanticide, the government
and NGOs working in this area should come forward to implement more self help groups
to generate income to the family. In 1997, Bangaru Ammaiyar Ninaivu Mahilir Thittam,
has been implemented by the Women Development Project in all twenty blocks of Salem
District. The Project was intended to promote economic development and social
empowerment of poorest women through a net work of SHG formed with the active
support of NGO. In 2001 this scheme has been extended to Salem Corporation area with
an aim to cover the urban poor women. Under Kishor Sakthi Yojana 120 adolescent girls
were given life education training and skill training on various trades.The training is
imparted to non-SHG members in under Anna Marumalarchi Thittam
Alternative India Development (AID) is instrumental in the formation of SHGs in Omalur
block of Salem district. There are 516 such SHGs in Omalur block alone with members
comprising of women, youth, dalits and most vulnerable people. These SHGs are involved
in rural business activities after getting the required loans from the nationalized banks.
Almost all the SHGs taste success in their business ventures and repay the loans on time.
The formation of Self Help Group (SHG) is the stepping stone for women to come out the
clutches of home-bound slavery and think of their full potential in terms of socio-economic
mobilization of the society.
Promote community action against female infanticide and other practices which degrade
the status of women in the form of village level campaign through rallies, village and

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public meetings, promoting community decision making against female infanticide
(community sanction) and the community can be monitoring the new born female at the
neonatal period particularly in the first week of the birth.
3.4. Administrative intervention plans
Administrative intervention plans by introducing a compulsory registration of pregnancies,
births and deaths, by gearing up the PHC staff (maternity assistants) to promote hospital
delivery can be made.
There should be a simplified system of law enforcement to get immediate justice to the
poor people on laws relating to dowry, family property, and equality of wages, minimum
wages and other social legislations. The existing scheme of girl child cash incentive must
be popularized. A simplified procedure must be evolved. NGOs can be involved for the
purpose of identifying the beneficiaries.
Female infanticide is one among the 15 Points of the Tamilnadu Government’s Program
for children. Unless and until female infanticide pockets are identified with micro level
plans for prevention made through NGOs or through joint effort of government and NGOs
the policy will have it’s own limitations. Grants must be made available to NGOs to work
against female infanticide. Legislation for regulation of the misuse of scientific medical
technologies such as amniocentesis and ultra sonogram must be enacted at an all-India
level.
Government must refrain from anti-woman and anti-girl advertisements reinforcing dowry
practice (insurance companies and banks). The penal approach to female infanticide must
be discouraged and instead of it community based intervention must be encouraged. The
state replacing the role of parents and communities must be discouraged (cradle baby
scheme). The existing child care services such as balwadis, anganwadis, community

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nutrition centers and crèches schedules should suit the local requirements to enable the
women to carry on their economic and domestic activities without any interruptions.
Instead of a piecemeal and compartmentalized approach, an integrated, flexible and
convergent approach aimed at the overall development of girls and women must be
ensured.
In August 1997, Prime Minister I.K. Gujral announced a 'Girl Child Protection Scheme' for
income-poor families. Under this scheme, a sum of Rupees.2,500 is invested in a fixed
deposit, additionally some money is given to the girl at intervals to meet her educational
expenses, and Rupees.10,000 is paid to her at age 20. The schemes were intended to
ameliorate the financial burden on the parents of girl children, but in effect they only
served to perpetuate the social evil of dowry.
Unless the conditions of women and their position in the family are strengthened, they will
remain powerless. Power is concentrated in men because of their ownership and control of
economic resources. Thus, to improve the status of women efforts need to be made to
facilitate women sangams, to address issues concerning both practical gender needs, and
strategic gender interests.
Women are to be facilitated to actively participate in the Panchayat Raj system, for the
political empowerment of women. Training and organizing efforts can be encouraged to
enable women to undertake issue-based struggles and campaigns to achieve gender justice.
Women's organizations need to network with other like-minded networks at both the micro
and macro level. Economic empowerment of women by implementing many
developmental programs needs to be undertaken.
As a step towards ideological empowerment, training on gender analysis and sensitization
is to be extended to sangam women, men and other allied forces like student communities

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and academicians. Informal discussions with adolescent girls reveal that they too have a
preference for boys but do not intend to kill their female infants.
Alcoholism among men triggers physical, psychological, sexual, class, caste and
community violence. Anti-liquor campaigning can be adopted as a program, and it is an
integral part of the campaign against violence towards women, which actively addresses
every issue that affects women. Documenting cases of domestic violence and providing
services like counseling, legal aid and protection to the victims in their short stay home can
be developed.
As a proactive strategy, a monitoring wing in each village comprising members of the
community can be constituted to directly monitor pregnant women and children in the age
group of 0-6, and to look after their health care needs etc.
3.5. Legal intervention plans
Since the dowry issue is acclaimed to be the major reason for the killing of a fetus/child,
care should be taken to improve the situation. As a first step towards solving the problem
of dowry, the Dowry Prohibition Act, which was introduced by the Indian Government
way back in 1961, should be strictly enforced. Further, with the view that it is not possible
to bring about a change in the people's attitude through this Act alone, effective programs
have to be laid down to make people understand the problems of dowry.
Most NGOs and activists associated with the fight against female infanticide have stressed
the need for a change in the interpretation of the law. The present situation reveals that the
state has failed to function and is therefore unable to protect its citizens. With regards NGO
attempts to deal with social issues through the law, not very much has been accomplished.
Often, only appeals have been made, and in trying to convict those who run sex-
determination clinics, the legal system cannot help NGOs very much. It is very difficult to

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prove that the test was conducted in order to determine the sex of the fetus, as clinics do
several tests on pregnant women for various reasons.
Family planning programs should be human oriented rather than number oriented. These
programs should emphasize reproductive health and the improvement of women's status,
and should be coordinated with the Maternal and Child Health Program. The Information,
Education and Communication Program should not only encourage people to have fewer
children, but also explicitly teach them to equally value female and male children.
While focusing on the problem of sex selective abortion of female fetuses, continue to
attack pervasive discrimination against girls that leads to their untimely deaths. Emphasize
consciousness-raising for the whole society on the value of girls and women, the need for
education and health care equally for boys and girls, and the need for legal changes to
promote male-female equality. Establish national and regional working groups to
formulate and promote action strategies to reduce sex preferences and their negative
impacts. Monitor, regulate, and discourage the use of prenatal sex detection technologies.
Promote gender-sensitive curricula in schools and strengthen the ethics curricula in
medical schools.
The principle of equality between men and women should be more widely promoted
through the news media to change the preference for sons and improve the general public's
awareness; gender equality should also be reflected in specific social and economic
policies to protect the basic rights of women and children, especially girls.
Government regulations prohibiting the use of prenatal sex identification techniques for
non-medical purposes should be strictly enforced, and violators should be punished
accordingly.

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Legislation against infanticide, abandonment and neglect of female children, as well as
laws and regulations to protect women and children should be strictly enforced. Campaigns
to protect women and children from being kidnapped or sold into servitude should be
effectively strengthened. Family planning programs should focus on effective public
education, good counseling and service delivery, and voluntary community participation to
increase contraceptive prevalence, reduce unplanned pregnancies, and minimize the need
for an induced abortion. The legal interventions plans can consider the above objectives in
controlling female infanticide.
3.6. Economic intervention plans
The role of the Church in poverty eradication has been a matter of concern for the Church
from the very beginning. The early Church settled down to a more practical solution by
accepting care of the poor as a priority for the Church. The first series of efforts made
particularly in very well organized ways was in the 19th and 20th centuries could be -
broadly put into the category of charity. The missionary movement in India promoted
this by charitable institutions, orphanages, schools and hospitals.
The other experiment which became popular during the last few decades is Social Action
for Justice and Equality. Christian social action groups built bridges with the people of
other faiths and highlighted the plight of the poor and marginalized. Poverty is so
rampant in our society, corruption is fast destroying our resources, fundamentalism is
diverting our attention and despair prevails all around, but yet we are still beating around
the bush and there is no unity or a sense of urgency even among social activists.
Something is wrong somewhere and social activists seem to be operating within the
limited perspective and priorities. So the poor are still there and disparity and

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marginalization increases and nobody seems to be really bothered about eradication of
poverty.
It is in this context that one has to look at the role of the Church. The Church in India is a
minority and it is divided not only in terms of several denominations but also in terms of
social strata and economic class. The Church on the whole is poor and majority of the
people are dalits but always has a tendency to side with the rulers. This we are seeing
constantly in the life of the Indian Church. The members of the Church tend to follow the
values and life pattern of the richer section of the society than the poorer.
The contradictions in the present capitalist system are so many that it will be difficult to
maintain the system as it is. There is a move for sustainable development in the world
and a holistic life for all. In this context the Church could develop or at least point to a
new pattern of life for itself. It will be a great contribution for the eradication of poverty.
The following Biblical Christian principles therefore are extremely important to the
Christian's handling and relating to the economic intervention plans to prevent female
infanticide.
There is an urgent to need to acknowledge God's ownership and man's stewardship in
resources. God owns the whole earth including ourselves and the poor among us. Although
He has endowed us with different amounts of resources they belong to God and to be used
lovingly and willingly for the benefit of all in society. Every man on earth is God's
steward, simply a manager of all the good things that God has given us. This includes our
money, time, bodies, skills our environment etc. We shall give an account on the use we
have made of these resources.
The biblical-Christian teaching is that wealth in itself is not a sin; it is God who gives
power to get wealth. Acquired honestly and used wisely can be a blessing to all. The

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church can respond in a practical way and opportunities should be availed for them to
participate in helping the poor and needy. In order to rebuild and up grade the quality of
life of the poverty-stricken, health related professions in the church can provide the help.
A great percentage of the world's poor are rural subsistence farmers. Christian experts can
teach the poor better methods of farming to double or triple their usual yields, protect their
environment and improve their water supply. Attention should be given to the
establishment of industries so the poor can get employment or learn some skills that can
make them employable. Carpenters, tailors, masons and everyone who understands some
line of useful labor should feel it a responsibility to help the ignorant and unemployed.
The troubled and unequal gender relations, the discriminating and isolating social relations,
the lack of protection and peace of mind, and all forms of disregard and abuse by the more
powerful can be turned around through accepting the Christian gospel. Research and
technical expertise within the Christian institutions can make the political leadership, the
rich and the general public more sensitive to the needs of the poor.
The missiological implications106 of these intervention plans can be said as follows:
1. There is a need for the Christian churches to be a model and agents for transformed
relationships. However, the Church is more than a model; it is an agent of transformation,
a channel for change. The church member, the Body of Christ, by their Christian ideals and
convictions is necessarily interested in the sufferings of humanity and will show the
concern by its actions.
2. There is a need for a mutual interdependence of the Christian member-churches.
Warren107 asserts that a culture of individualism and independence must be replaced with
106
For more information see, “The Implications of the Pauline Theology of “Ptochos”&“Ptochela” to the
contemporary understanding of Poor and Poverty”. Paper for the IAMS assembly in Malaysia 2004, p. 23-
35.

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the biblical concepts of interdependence and mutuality. Mutuality in holistic mission is a
new paradigm in ministry. The mutuality in holistic mission undermines the superiority
and inferiority complex in the mission. Any mission practice that starts from assumptions
of superiority of doers and inferiority of receivers is only a relief aid.
The theory of partnership goes back to the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the gap
between vision and practice has often been disappointing. As Padilla puts it,
“interdependence comes with a deeper understanding of the nature of unity in Christ and of
the situation in which other members of the body of Christ live.”108 We need to learn to
find out other churches’ gifts and resources and to distribute with ours and others. Paul, in
his mission set a model for mutual interdependence of the Christian Church. From Paul’s
perspective, the Church as the Body of Christ finds its genuine life in togetherness and
interdependence.109 In the words of David Bosch, “we need new relationships, mutual
responsibility, accountability, and interdependence.”110
3. There is a need for the denomination’s theological institutions to integrate social
ministry in their relevant programs. The purpose of mission is serving the “missio dei” by
witnessing and participating in the struggle between God’s reign and the powers of evil in
the society. Every function of the members of Christ’s Body is a diakonia (“service”), and
Christ himself is the primary holder of every diakonia.111 Therefore, social ministry should
be a means of churches for witnessing Jesus Christ and making disciples (not Christians)
107
Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Church Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995, reprint,
Manila Philippines: OMF Literature Inc. 1998. p.369. See William R. Burrows, New Ministries: The
Global Context, NY: Orbis Books, 1981. p.22.
108
C.Rene Padilla, Mission Between the Times: Essays on the Kingdom, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing House, 1985, p.134.
109
Ronald Sider, Cry Justice. The Bible on Hunger and Poverty, NY: Paulist Press, 1980, p.99.
110
David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, p. 466.
111
Richard Niehbur, The Purpose of the Church and Its Ministry, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956, p.31.

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of Christ but should keep away from being restricted attraction of making “Rice
Christians”.
4. There is a need to re-educate the churches towards the strength and suitability of social
ministry. Poverty is one of the biggest problems in the region. The church, as a community
institution, needs to fill the gap left by the government in relation to social ministry. Our
social involvement must undergo a shift from institutional service and works of charity to
empowerment so as to have greater honesty and transparency in the present society.
Liberating concerns require a liberating partnership in mission.
5. There is a need to practice stewardship in the churches. Stewardship is the pledge of life
and belongings to the service of Christ. It is not primarily a method of raising money for
the church but a means of developing mature Christians. Tom Sine puts the challenge of
stewardship well:
We need to understand, if we are to be the people of God and follow Christ who
identifies with the poor, it means more than giving out our leftovers. We need to
move back to jubilary stewardship models. Jubilary stewardship is based on the
assumption that “the earth is the Lord’s. If the earth is indeed the Lord’s do I get to
keep in a world in which 800 million people are not able to survive. We need a
whole new theology in all of our churches that understands that we are part of the
international body of Jesus Christ. We are called to lives of greater responsibility
and greater celebration under the reign of God.112
The stewardship promotes the solidarity in holistic mission partnership Jesus is the perfect
example of solidarity (Philippians.2; 6-8).
6. There is a need to create different training programs and seminars for jobless Church
members. The churches should continually provide a program for members to learn a trade
or special skill. This would eventually lead to the effective administration of social
services. The self help groups need to be encouraged in the churches. One of the road
112
Tom Sine, “Shifting Christian Mission into the Future Tense,” Missiology, Vol. XV, No.1 ,January, 1987,
p. 152.

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blocks in the holistic mission is the failure in empowering the women. This context calls
for a renewed vision in mission.
The relationship between the church and the Christian NGOs and Service Agencies is a
challenge and needs partnership in addressing the issue of dowry and poverty. Lausanne
Occasional Paper (LOP) on holistic mission remarks on this as follows: “The conflicts that
oftentimes affect the relationship between local churches and service agencies should be
honestly faced and resolved on the following principles 113
1. The role of the service agency is that of an apprentice. As a part of the body of
Christ the members of the service agency must work from within the church so as
to learn and to face the local issues of holistic mission.
2. The role of the service agency is that of a facilitator. The service agency
should place itself beside the church in order to enable the church to carry on its
holistic mission.
3. The role of the service agencies is that of a catalyst. Despite the increasing
number of churches with a vision for holistic mission, there are still many in need
of help to get a wider vision of their task.
4. The role of the church is that of a pioneer. The role of the service agency as an
apprentice, a facilitator, and a catalyst can only be fulfilled when there is a local
church in the community. If no church exists, the service agency will have to
choose between not working in that community and making strategic plans to
plant a church either alone or in cooperation with a church from another
community.
A realistic approach to the problem of suffering and poverty is possible only through a
joint venture by the followers of the various religions. No one section of the society alone
can fight this problem. It is here that the Church has its distinctive role to play. Such
goodwill and co-operation among the different religions are possible only if the Church
becomes aware of its mission and strives to sensitize its members to develop open
mindedness.
Dowry and poverty hinders, affects and interferes with the complete development of
human beings that is socially, mentally, physically and spiritually. This therefore calls for
113
David Claydon, (ed) “Holistic Mission: A New Vision, a New Heart, a Renewed Call”, Lausanne
Occasional Paper (LOP) No. 33. p.23.

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an integrated and practical approach to handle the intervention plans with kingdom values
in mind such as:
(i). Personal Response. A right attitude of honor, concern and compassion for the poor will
lead firstly to a personal response of generosity, hospitality, and service (Job 31:16-22,
Prov 31:20, Matt 25:31-45, 1Tim 6:18). It will lead to an eagerness to give up not only
money, but also time, energy, and comfort. The attachment to our prosperity, comfort and
prestige are often the obstacles to follow God, an obedience shaped by the cross of self-
denial, suffering, and service.
One has to be careful to be righteous and just in the way one pursue business and own
interests (Ps 112:5, Mic 6:8, Ja 5:1-6). By seeking the cheapest deal for ourselves, we are
often pushing the producer into poverty. Buying and supporting ‘Fair Trade’ is one
expression of Christian concern for justice. There is a cost to living righteously, but there is
always blessing with it. Good News of the kingdom of God, preached to the poor is not
just of forgiveness of sins, but that there is God's help, justice, and honor for the poor. The
church, as an outpost of the kingdom of God on earth should be demonstrating this nature
of the kingdom of God.
(ii). Structural Response. God's concern for the poor is also called for it to build the social
and economic structure of the nation. In legal structures, the Law laid emphasis on the
need for justice for the poor and powerless (Ex 23:6-8, Lev 19:15, Deut 24:17, 27:19,
15:15). And politically, part of the role of a righteous leader was to defend the cause of the
weak and fatherless, and "maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed” (Ps 82:1-3, Prov
31:8-9, 22:22ff, 29:7,14).
(iii). Prophetic Response. The prophets passionately called God's people and leaders to
account for all injustice, especially oppression of the poor. We in our turn should be calling

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upon our governments for structures and decisions that uphold justice for the poor and
oppressed, based upon a biblical concern and attitude (Is 10:1-2; Jer 22:13-17; Amos 2:6-
7; 5:11-15, 21-24; 8:4-6; Zec 7:8-10). We should be challenging a system that puts
property and prosperity above people.
The issue of the poor and poverty has become one of the central themes of contemporary
Christian theology and, indeed, has become a controversial question. Several conferences
and seminars were held to discuss the issue of the poor and poverty. 114 In fact, the Church
is challenged to do its part in dealing with the issue of poverty. Recent theological
phenomena like the emergence of Theology of Liberation (Latin America), Black
Theology (South Africa), Minjung Theology (South Korea), Dalit Theology (India), and
Water Buffalo Theology (Thailand) are a reaction to and supplementary result of the
Church’s neglect of the problem of poverty or general economic questions.
The field research has identified poverty and unemployment as the major cause leading to
female infanticide. Hence, Biblical Christian principles are extremely important to the
Christian's handling and relating to the problem of poverty. The implications to the mission
and ministry of the Christian churches115 can be summed up as, that there is a need for the
Christian churches to be a models and agents for transformed relationships, a need for a
mutual interdependence of the Christian member-churches, a need for the denomination’s
theological institutions to incorporate social ministry in their respective programs, a need
114
For example, in October 17-23, 1993 at New Delhi, India, WEF Theological Commission Consultation
held a conference with a theme “Evangelization of the Poor.” See Bong Rin Ro, ed., WEF-TC Consultation
on the Evangelization of the Poor: Sharing the Good News with the Poor, Seoul Korea: World Evangelical
Fellowship Theological Commission, 1993, p. 46. In March 1-5, 1995 at Agra, India, the Third Oxford
Conference on Christian Faith and Economics was held to consider “The Impact of the Market Economy on
the Poor.” See Transformation 12:3, July/September, 1995, p.32.
115
Refer: “The Implications of the Pauline Theology of “Ptochos” and “Ptochela” to the contemporary
understanding of Poor and Poverty”. Paper for the IAMS assembly in Malaysia 2004, p. 23-35.

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for the churches to recognize social ministry as a viable tool for mission and evangelism,
and discipleship.
Every function of the members of Christ’s body is a diakonia (“service”), and Christ
himself is the primary holder of every diakonia. 116 Therefore, social ministry should be a
means of churches for witnessing Jesus Christ and making disciples (not Christians) of
Christ but should avoid being conditional bait of making “rice Christian”. The poor are
with us and poverty is a reality which the church in India must not overlook. Without
addressing that reality adequately, Christian mission is not fulfilling the mission of Jesus,
who showed such deep concern for the poor.
4. The Media impact in preventing and controlling Female Infanticide
Female infanticide has been receiving wide attention both in the print media, television
channels and in the cinema. The BBC has beamed coverage on female infanticide. Even
popular novelist Mrs. Rajam Krishnan wrote a novel in Tamil called “Mannagathu
Poonthalirgal” (The Buds of the Universe). In the film “Indira,” directed Suhasini Mani
Ratnam, female infanticide came into focus. Indira, dealt with the Dharmapuri-Salem fetus
killings. This section will deal with few important documentary films, Tamil cinema and
Street Theaters attempts in creating the public awareness in preventing and controlling
female infanticide.
4.1. Documentary films on female infanticide
The tragic end and at times revolting truth about female infanticide and feticide has been
comprehensively revealed in two documentaries commissioned by the National Foundation
for India117, filmed in Katihar, Patna and Salem. The films are the most common reason
that compelled parents to snuff out a part of their lives at birth was the stigma of high
116
H. Richard Niehbur, The Purpose of the Church and Its Ministry, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956,
p.31.
117
For more information on the film refer www. National foundation of India/html.

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dowry attached to the marriage of girls. There is a saying in Tamilnadu that ‘‘the value of a
girl goes down every time the value of gold goes up’’. Today, we hear more and more of
girl babies dying of neglect, being deliberately starved or poisoned, left behind in a bus, or
train or simply dumped in a trash can. The girl child of today is the woman of tomorrow.
Unless the entire society begins to fight their murders, female infanticide and feticide will
be part of our Tamil (Indian) culture and the two important documentary films on female
infanticide are “Let Her Die” and “Gift of a Girl”. The following paragraphs will sum up
the main features of the films.
In a BBC documentary film entitled “Let Her Die”, the statistics of female infanticide were
given by Emetic Buchanan. According to the statistics compiled for the film, more than
3,000 fetuses are being aborted in India everyday after being identified as female. In only
25 minutes, this documentary film brings the issue of female infanticide vividly to light
and calls for action towards its eradication.
“Gift of a Girl” is a powerful and moving film that explores the complexity of female
infanticide in southern India and shows steps that are being taken to eradicate the practice.
Every year in India thousands of baby girls are killed. This is partly due to the dowry
system, which makes a daughter a liability to a family. This sensitive film does not dwell
on the horrors of the practice. Rather, it allows women to speak for themselves and shows
how they can be improved. The film shows the grass roots movement to end both the
infanticides of girls and the imposition of dowries. The filmmakers let the women active in
the sanghams, and the movements in general, talk to the cameras about the issues that
concern them and about their newfound zeal to fight for raising girls.

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4.2. Tamil Cinema on female infanticide
How will the Indian society be without women? A feature film Matrubhoomi, raises the
issue of female infanticide, by exploring the impact of such a hypothetical situation.
Produced by filmmaker Boney Kapoor and his actress-wife Sridevi, Matrubhoomi is the
first film to be released simultaneously in six regional languages in India (Hindi, Telugu,
Tamil, Bengali, Bhojpuri and Gujarati). The film has also been dubbed in French. Quoted
as 'One of the year's top ten films in the world' by Time magazine, Matrubhoomi has also
won best film awards in International film festivals held in Venice and Poland in 2003.
In his film, “Karuthamma,” the popular South Indian film director, Bharathiraja, who has
been directing films with a rural thematic setup, has embarked upon a pioneer effort to
address a social issue such as female infanticide. He does so even though the public prefers
to always see a fantasy world in the tinsel world of films. It is a bold attempt, to address
the realistic situation of the girl children being killed. The film beams the typical rural folk
attitude towards girls being born and exterminated. However, it has not dealt adequately
beyond the causative factors for the committing the gruesome act. Yet, the film has dealt
with the psychology of the people and portrayed their feelings in realistic manner.
The positive feature of the film is that Karuthamma’s younger sister, a baby who was
being administered the poisonous milk by a dai, is saved by the local teacher. This teacher
nurtures the girl child in the city and she becomes a doctor and comes back to the same
village. Upon learning from her adopted father that her actual father is now on his death
bed, she decides to live in the village and care for the villagers. The father repents that he
attempted to kill the child when she was young, and now the same child has come to his
rescue. On this note the movie ends.

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If only the film could have portrayed the parents were repenting for the committing of
female infanticide and the future generations embarking upon an effort to prevent the
practice. Also, the commercialization of marriage and its allied syndromes could be
portrayed. Furthermore, the role model of the adopted girl child could be portrayed in the
rural atmosphere itself, lest villagers will always find an excuse to say since the girl has
been nurtured in city, she was able to become doctor.
4.3. Street Theater on female infanticide
The use of street theater art form as a tool of social communication goes back to the days
of the freedom movement. Two important such initiation which had a tremendous impact
in Tamilnadu is Pacha mannu and Kalaipayanam.
4.3.1. Pacha Mannu. (Clay soil)
In 1993, the theatre project “Voicing Silence” was initiated to give a voice to women. The
birth of the project “Pacha Mannu,” an interactive street play which engaged the audience
directly, dissolved boundaries and turned spectators into 'spec-actors.' The work “Pacha
Mannu” began in 1994 and performance tours started in 1996, breaking new ground in
communication.118
In addressing the issue from a sociological perspective, one also realizes that social
realities are deeply rooted and nurtured by cultural values. Therefore, it becomes
mandatory to address the issue from a cultural perspective as well. Pacha Mannu is one
such venture attempted. In an age booming with the communication explosion, Pacha
Mannu moved around the interior villages of Tamilnadu.
118
more details can be found at, “Confronting Discrimination: Some approaches to the issue of Female
Infanticide,” www.hsph.harvard.edu/, p.2-3.

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The project used “inclusive terms,” 119 the play had no real villains, when villainy needs to
be represented. In the dowry harassment scene, for example, the actors are masked, raising
this villainy into a non-gender-specific concept a structural problem of patriarchal
societies.
It also adopted “localized idioms,” as the play is firmly rooted within the Tamil socio-
linguistic-cultural context. Since the play aimed to touch the female viewers in particular,
and re-present the survival of women, it explores female-specific ceremonies and rituals. It
is planned around the life cycle rituals of women within this environment, from birth to
giving birth. These are represented through songs, comments and aphorisms reflecting the
value systems and cultural codes in Tamilnadu.
The play used the “cultural exploration” methods by collecting the songs and ritual
practices of ceremonies conducted during puberty, marriage and first pregnancy. Valai
Kappu, the bangle ceremony held during the seventh or ninth month of the first pregnancy,
is an all-female ceremony of celebrating fruitfulness and blessing the woman.
The project also developed a participatory mode and elastic structure, at a certain point,
abandoning the liberating drive, building up feelings of separation, the narrative is broken
and the responsibility of deciding the fate of the unborn fetus is left to the audience. Pacha
Mannu consciously tried to avoid the 'us' and 'them' divide by, staying within recognizable
cultural modes of expression. Nowhere is the viewer 'shocked' but rather made to see
everyday realities depicted with a delicate evaluation of the same. In the play none of the
role's towers above the ordinary but retains average fears, doubts, desires and hopes.
The scope of this effort in the sociopolitical context needs close analysis. Pacha Mannu
can be classified as a street political theatre while it concurrently defies all these images. It
119
Sarada Natarajan, “Watering the Neighbor's Plant - Media Perspectives on Female Infanticide,” M. S.
Swaminathan Research Foundation, Monograph No. 6, (Chennai,1997).

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is street theatre, which does not make any immediate demand. It is calling the audience for
change but not action.
The effects of media intervention have penetrated “inwards,” in that they have affected the
communities in which female infanticide occurs. Whatever their drawbacks, the media
established an example by dragging the subject out into the open and providing it the
dimension of a social problem. They have mobilized the usually lethargic public opinion
against this social evil, and have tried to sustain its interest in, and vigilance of, the issue.
The media continue to play an important role both directly and indirectly in preventing the
killing of girls.
4.3.2. Kalaipayanam. (Art campaign)
A strategy to tackle female infanticide in Dharmapuri through a process of social
mobilization was developed by the TNAHCP. The art of street theatre as part of a multi-
media approach was identified as an important tool in this strategy. TNAHCP adopted the
street theatre (Kalaipayanam) 120, strategy in Dharmapuri, both to mobilize the community
against female infanticide and to promote community involvement in public health. In the
first instance, it was decided to develop itinerant street theatre troupes ‘kalaipayana
kuzhukkal’ to create awareness on the issue of female infanticide and generate a nuclei of
activists throughout the district who would pursue the issue in a sustained manner.
The Kalaipayanam had a significant impact through both its process and its outputs, and
indirectly as well as directly on the community in terms of enhancing consciousness and
generating core groups in villages committed to working for elimination of female
infanticide. The follow-up activity to sustain the momentum was designed and carried out.
120
The freedom movements used this art form, later, it was the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishat (KSSP), a
people’s science movement, which first demonstrated, in 1980, the potential of itinerant street theatre or
‘kalaipayanam’, (‘kalajatha’, as KSSP called it) as not only a tool of communication, but also a powerful tool
of social mobilisation. More recently, the strategy of ‘kalaipayanam’ had been effectively utilised in the mass
literacy campaigns of the 1990s to motivate and mobilise the community on the issue of literacy.

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“Nam Nalam Ariya Kalaipayanam” (a campaign to understand our health) is an ambitious
program on female infanticide, women's health and empowerment. The villagers composed
songs, stories and skits and acted in their own productions. One such attempt is called as
Valliyin Vazhakku .
Valliyin Vazhakku (Valli's Case) is the story of a smart schoolgirl who wins all the prizes
and drags a young man who harasses her to the panchayat. The women loudly applauded
the climax when her harasser is made to fall at her feet. Kolli Vayyi (Light the Pyre) has a
subtle anti-female infanticide message, (below are few pictures taken in one such act)
which reached out to a surprisingly large number of people. It is the story of a daughter
looking after her father and who finally lights his pyre (something which women are not
supposed to do) when his exploitative son throws him out.
Kalaipayanam Photographs

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This strategy involved several steps, and Venkatesh Athreya, Sheela Rani Chunkath sum
up its impact of kalaipayanam as121:
“There is the need of production of appropriate street plays and songs to motivate
people to act collectively against the practice of female infanticide. Identification
and training of committed social activists who would make up the troupes
traveling from place to place spreading simple yet powerful messages against
female infanticide”.
The troupe consisted of roughly equal numbers of young women and men and that the
members of a team touring a particular panchayat union (block) were drawn as far as
possible from that panchayat union. The strategy included, approaching the leaders and
members of every village panchayat, and enlisting their cooperation in hosting the troupe
visiting the village; arranging its performance and ensuring that a large proportion of the
panchayat population to witness the program.
Women's Emancipation and Development (WED) Trust in Usillampatti block of Madurai
district has its own cultural team “Nerunji Cultural Group”, which created Guinness Book
of World record for a non-stop performance of 57 and a half hours street theatre along with
“ Thisaigal” Cultural Troupe in 1999 at Madurai. The WED Trust has chosen Street
Theatre as one of the most important strategies to educate the rural people on all social
issues. They have conducted more than 1000 performances all over Tamilnadu. The WED
Trust has saved more than 600 girl children from infanticide since 1992.
Clearly, the successful conduct of the kalaipayanam campaign is only a first step. The
campaign has served to sensitize health service providers in the government sector and
heightened awareness of health and gender issues among a sizeable section of
Dharmapuri's rural population. Here and there, local committees to pursue the agenda of
the campaign have emerged. Local leaders, a significant proportion of whom are women,
121
Venkatesh Athreya, Sheela Rani Chunkath, Tackling Female Infanticide: Social Mobilisation in
Dharmapuri, 1997-99, Economic and Political Weekly December 2, 2000, pp.4335-4348.

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participated in the campaign against female infanticide and, in that sense, own its agenda
and objectives. Athrya rightly remarks on this,
“But sustaining these gains is not easy, especially since the agenda ahead
involves confronting both patriarchal structures and powerful vested interests of
various hues, as well as successfully gearing up the 'supply side' of the public
primary health care system.”122
Systematic training on health and gender issues within the framework of the new
panchayat raj institutions needs to be imparted to social activists and community leaders,
at least half of whom must be women. This could be the most important next step in
preventing and eradicating female infanticide. The media in the rural context is very
powerful communication tool; hence there is a grater need to develop strategies in using
this tool in mission to female infanticide.
Summary
Female infanticide is a horrible manifestation of the anti-female bias that continues to
pollute societies throughout the world. Even in technologically advanced and educated
societies, the brutal practice continues. The successful eradication of the practice of female
infanticide seems an arduous task. In order to combat the phenomenon, careful
consideration of the location-specific and cultural factors leading to the practice is
necessary.
The education of both men and women, social strategies to improve the status of women,
and access to family counseling and healthcare may provide means of eliminating female
infanticide, as well as elevating the value assigned to women around the globe.
The drive against female infanticide and the need to protect female and male children
equally have caught on in the districts of Salem, Dhramapuri and Madurai remains a
122
Vekatesh, Athreya. “Social Mobilisation for Change,” Front Line, Vol.15, No.20. (Sep 26-Oct 9, 1998):
p. 11. Photos by Sridher.

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million dollar question. The district administration has effectively spearheaded the
movement against female infanticide. Villagers have been warned against resorting to such
a heinous crime. However, even today the aspect that "Emanuku ettu kuzhandai
koduthallum kodupom ana perathiyarku oru kuzhandai kooda kodukamattom” (we will
even offer eight children to lord Yama but at no stage will we offer a single child to
others)'' reigns supreme in the minds of the villagers.
Female infanticide, instead of being considered only a legal crime, should also be looked at
from the social angle so that a viable solution can be found for solving this problem. The
short term and long term strategies; along with the social, administrative, legal and
economic intervention plans both at individual and group level, the impact of media that
are highlighted in this chapter will assist in developing the partnership strategies in the
holistic mission approach to the challenges of female infanticide. The following chapter
will study the contributions of the Governmental and the Non-Governmental Organizations
for the care of the children to give further insights in developing the strategies in holistic
mission partnership to the practice of female infanticide.

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Chapter VIII
The Contributions of the Governmental and the Non-Governmental Organizations
for the Care of Children in Salem Dharmapuri and Madurai Districts of Tamilnadu
Tamilnadu government initially had a silent reaction to the practice of female infanticide.
When the leading news magazine India Today exposed female infanticide in Usilampatti in
1986, the then All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kalazgam (AIADMK) government
asserted that the practice was confined only to that particular place in the state. Sabu
George states the government response as123,
“Moreover, the government of Tamilnadu reportedly brought false and baseless

charges against the Society for Integrated Rural Development (SIRD), an NGO
based in Usilampatti that was instrumental in getting the information published.
This apparent form of harassment was presumably meant to discourage them
from continuing to publicise the issue”
In contrast, the response of the government of Tamilnadu in 1992, under Chief Minister
Ms. Jayalalitha, was different in that the existence of the practice in the state was
acknowledged.124 In 1992, the Tamilnadu government had launched the 'Cradle Babies'
scheme, whereby families can abandon unwanted female infants in the cradles placed in
government primary health centers, rather than kill them.
If a mother did not want a baby, she could leave her child in a cradle kept outside the
Social Welfare Department clandestinely. The government would then help raise the child.
But the initiative did not evoke much response at first. If the parents come back within two
months with a change of heart, the babies are returned to them. The babies in the
government's care are either sent to authorized adoption centers or to homes run by the
state.
123
Sabu M George, “Female Infanticide in Tamil Nadu, India : From Recognition Back to Denial?” p.3
124
Dr. J. Jayalalitha l5-Point Programme for Child Welfare. Government of Tamil Nadu, Department of
Social Welfare, November 1993. Madras. p.1.

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The cradle baby scheme was started with one reception centre each in Salem, Madurai,
Theni, and Dindigul, areas most notorious for female infanticide. In April 2001, it was
extended to the whole of Tamilnadu, reception centers, totaling 188, were set up at all
Primary Health Centers (PHCs) and major government hospitals. 125
This scheme came as a boon to the adoption agencies as it ensured a regular supply of
children. For instance, 27 of the 45 babies (November 2003) housed in the Concorde
House of Jesus and 19 of the 46 at the Guild of Service were cradle babies. The Institute of
Franciscan Sisters has received 55 cradle babies since 2001. In 2003, of the 29 babies the
126
Institute gave in adoption, 18 were sourced through the cradle baby scheme. Most
agencies now have a girl baby surplus; they receive them from the District Social Welfare
Officer (DSW) who simply calls the agencies to "collect the babies.".
For the adoption agencies, government cradle babies give them a certification, recognition,
and acceptance of their activities without "excessive monitoring and interference." The
Madras Social Service Guild, whose license was under suspension from 1999 until 2001,
has received more than 81 cradle babies in less than two years. The pressure on the DSW
to rehabilitate the babies under the cradle scheme has made them more flexible towards the
agencies. It appears to be a mutually beneficial arrangement.
There were police arrests, particularly in Salem, of some families who had committed
female infanticide. The combination of media attention and police persecution led to the
abandonment of a large number of babies in the cradles in Salem.127 In 1992, 77 girls were
left in cradles in the district. The government gave money to some NGOs to look after the
125
A.Krishnakumar, “The Cradle Babies”, Frontline, Vol. 22:11, 2005, p.34.
126
Ibid, p.35.
127
Refer, Renganathan A. Antonysamy, Sivanandhan. Female infanticide in Salem district. VRDP, Omalur,
Salem District, Annual report 1995.

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abandoned girls. Some of them died and over 20 were given up for adoption. (Bethel
Agricultural Fellowship received 6 babies).
1. The contributions of the Government for the care of the children
1.1. The 'Cradle Baby' Scheme and the 'Girl Child Protection' Scheme
There were several discussions on this issue in the Indian Parliament and in the Legislative
assembly of Tamilnadu. Sustained coverage by the foreign news media, such as the BBC,
was a source of embarrassment for the Tamilnadu government. Following consultations
with UNICEF and NGOs, Ms. Jayalalitha announced the 'Jayalalitha Protection Scheme
for the Girl Child' in October 1992. The goal of the scheme was the total elimination of
female infanticide by the year 2000. Under its provisions, a poor family with one or two
girls and no sons would be eligible for monetary incentives if one parent agreed to be
sterilized. Money given in the name of the infant girl would be held in a fixed deposit
account until she reached 21 years of age. Further, when the girl went to school, the family
would periodically receive grants for educational expenses. This scheme was intended to
cover 20,000 families every year.
In Salem district 614 girls actually received this benefit over a period of eighteen months.
The government also committed itself to undertaking the identification of 'high risk areas'
where the practice was prevalent. "Jayalalitha Protection Scheme for the Girl Child" which
gives monetary compensation to poor families in exchange for sterilization, gives money in
the name of the female infants not to be accessed until they turn 21, and awards grants for
educational expenses of female students (which has not been very effective, as giving
women money at 21, or around the time of marriage, in essence legitimizes the illegal
dowry practice). In August 1997 the Indian Prime Minister adopted this plan for all of
India that became known as the "Cradle Baby Scheme."

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The 'Cradle Baby' scheme and the 'Girl Child Protection' scheme were shrewd political
moves on the part Ms. Jayalalitha. These measures facilitated the building of her image as
a protector of the interests of Tamil women. Recognizing the popularity of these schemes,
Jayalalitha periodically enhanced the incentives. 128 Ms. Jeyalaaitha’s government also
introduced other programs for the improvement of women's status such as exclusively
recruiting women as primary school teachers in the state, and making primary education
compulsory for all children.
The 'Cradle Baby Scheme' has not been very successful. However, state run adoption
centers are having an impact on reducing the female infanticides. This is clearly revealed
in the Tamilnadu census 2001 report. Instead of killing the children families can now drop
the female infants off at the centers, no questions asked. In the Salem district, another
method of curbing the infanticide is a mandatory program for all pregnant women to
register at the local hospital. There they are taught gender equity and are counseled not to
kill the infant girls, if that is what they will indeed have. This has spurred the formation of
a group called the “motorcycle messiahs", women travel around on motorcycles spreading
the word of gender equity and adoption rather than the killing of the female infants.
Ironically, the same political compulsions that led the state government to recognize the
practice of female infanticide eventually led to its later denial of the practice.129
Unattainable promises to eradicate the problem and a desire to uphold the image of the
state government as the ‘savior of women appear to have become more important than
taking the long-term action necessary to achieve this end.
128
R. Kirubhakaran, Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, Social Welfare & Nutritious Meal Programme
Department, Government Order, Ms. No. 533, (Madras, 13 October 1992); Ms. No. 184, (Madras, 13 July
1993); Ms. No. 533, ( Madras, 11 October 1993); Ms. No. 21, (Madras, 19 January 1994).
129
Renganathan A. Antonysamy, Sivanandhan. “Female infanticide in Salem district,” Report prepared by
VRDP, Omalur and CEDA Trust, Dindigul, 1995. p.4.

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For example, the former Minister for Social Welfare, Ms. Indira Kumari, the most
outspoken individual in the government on female infanticide at that time, claimed when
the 'Cradle Babies' scheme was launched in early 1992, that the state would eradicate
female infanticide within a year. She then reportedly made claims at meetings in 1995 that
the practice in Salem district had been eradicated. Numerous NGOs working in different
districts were asked not to report instances of female infanticide to the media, and when the
media covered incidents of female infanticide, she is said to have expressed her
displeasure. 130 These sorts of actions represent grave setbacks in the attainment of the goal
of eradication of female infanticide in the state.
1.2. Bhagya Lakshmi scheme
Bhagya Lakshmi scheme is a government welfare scheme to prevent female infanticide.
Under the scheme, the Government will deposit Rupees 10,000 each in the name of girl
child born on or after April 1, 2006 in a below poverty line family. On attaining the age of
18, the girl child concerned could draw the money along with the interest accrued on it.
The Government has estimated that it will cost the exchequer Rupees 23, 40,00,00,000
annually and the number of beneficiaries will be restricted to two girls per below poverty
line family.
1.3. DANIDA and TNAHCP scheme.
The district of Dharmapuri is one of the five project districts under the third phase of the
Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA) assisted by Tamil Nadu Area
Health Care Project (TNAHCP) being implemented by the government of Tamilnadu with
assistance from the government of Denmark. While the TNAHCP’s broad objective is
development of public primary health care, it was decided to focus on the issue of female
130
Ibid., p. 4.

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infanticide in Dharmapuri. The Kalaipayanm street theater strategy as noted earlier is one
such initiation of DANIDA and TNAHCP.
A closer examination of the three years (1996-99) of sustained work under the TNAHCP
revealed that the trend of decline is more explicit in Dharmapuri district. However, there is
no room for contentment. Firstly, the phenomenon of female infanticide has strong social
roots and social sanction and the attempts made cannot be assumed to be sustainable.
Secondly, the one attempt mobilization effort needs to be followed up by the grass roots
structures that would be constantly active in the struggle against female infanticide.
Thirdly, the economic and social structures and processes that reinforce patriarchy, devalue
women, and promote such phenomena as dowry will need to be addressed seriously if a
sustained reduction leading ultimately to elimination of female infanticide is to be
achieved.
In short, a beginning has been made in the fight against female infanticide in Tamilnadu
through innovative efforts but they offer important lessons for other states. The road ahead
is far from easy. The broadest possible partnership against female feticide and infanticide
needs to be built and sustained. This implies a commitment to developing a people’s
movement involving the Church and Governmental and NGOs.
1.4. Kallar Reclamation scheme
The term Kallar means dacoit. The British named them the kallars due to their engagement
in dacoits before independence period. Originally the Kallars were a warrior group known
for their valor and they belong to the Thevar caste. They were reportedly committing
female infanticide crimes in the early eighties mainly to avoid the dowry problem.

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The Kallar Reclamation Board has launched many development programs to enhance the
economic stability in the family. The impact of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) 131
brought new power to Kallar community. The shift from investment capital to financial
capital has made several families take up money lending in a big way. Many of them have
financial institutions, which make it easy to multiply money. In this way, land
accumulation and capital accumulation set in.
The Kallars carry the traits of self punishment to prove their loyalty. Women have to be
viewed in this context and they are forced to kill their unwanted heirs the girl children in
order to prove their loyalty to their husband and family132. It is to be noted that the
majority of the Kallar families are wage laborers and they adhere to this practice as it has
the community sanction.
The Kallar Reclamation Scheme now has 260 schools under the administrative control of
this office to uplift the educational standard of Piramalai Kallars. There are 48 Hostels
under the Control of Special Deputy Collector (Kallar Reclamation), Madurai, for giving
boarding and lodging for poor students. The Kallar reclamation scheme has made a
significant impact in rural education and raising the economic standard of the community
this in turn has helped in controlling the practice of female infanticide.
2. The contributions of the NGOs on Female Infanticide
There are many NGOs actively involved in the child care ministry in Salem, Dharmapuri
and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu. The attempt is made here to understand the NGOs
innervations and limitations in addressing the challenges of female infanticide. The study
will also focus on two Christian NGOs namely Society for Integrated Social Upliftment
131
M. Jeeva, Gandhimathi and Phavalam, “Female Infanticide: Philosophy, Perspective and Concern of
SIRD” p.11.
132
Ibid, p.12.

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(SISU) in Madurai district and Bethel Agricultural fellowship (BAF) in Salem and
Dharmapri with special reference to female infanticide.
2.1. Interventions by NGOs
A number of NGOs have been involved in a broad range of activities and programs for the
prevention and eradication of female infanticide. There are interventions such as: NGOs
that are providing counseling of an expectant mother and her family by social workers
starting from the time of detection of pregnancy; reporting specific cases of female
infanticide to the police in an attempt to discourage the practice, helping parents to get the
monetary incentives offered by the Girl Child Protection Scheme, and interventions which
aim at social changes.
There are NGOs that are providing better childcare support to mothers through the
establishment of crèches and feeding programs. There are NGOs that are having projects
for improving women's access to education, health, economic resources and
consciousness-raising for women about women's subordination in a patriarchal society.
2.2. Limitations of the NGO’s interventions
There are several problems with many of the above methods, making them ineffective.
While financial incentives for the education of girls are welcome, the problem of the state
providing money that will be available when the girl is aged 21, is that it helps to
legitimize the practice of dowry. Furthermore, with the limited resources, most attempts
will cover only a small segment of the needy population.
Hence, NGOs most often take up strategies focused on preventing individual cases of
infanticide. As Sabu George rightly remarks, the dedication of community based groups
working on the sensitive issue of female infanticide must be appreciated.133 He further
133
Sabu George, “Female Infanticide in Tamil Nadu, India: From Recognition Back to Denial” p.4.

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notes on some of the NGOs who have shown exemplary courage in continuing to work on
this issue in the face of consistent displeasure and even open hostility from government
functionaries and people themselves in the communities where they are working.
In fact, many NGO workers expressed that their pleas against female infanticide are
usually ignored by the communities. Hence, they have used the method of threatening
families who may commit female infanticide with being reported to the police. Many have
had no intention of acting on these threats because they also fear that actually reporting a
family to the police would result in physical violence against them from the community.
However, those who have reported cases to the police have had to contend with a number
of unanticipated consequences.
Attempting to change the attitude of the entire population in a matter of five or ten years is
totally unrealistic with the existing, limited strategies. The lack of dependability of long-
term donor support adversely affects female infanticide prevention programs. Most
prevention programs are funded for a short time. The short-term duration of funding
encourages, if not forces, unrealistic goals on NGOs, to get support. Long-term social
intervention strategies that enhance women's status carried out both by government and
NGOs are most likely to succeed in reducing and eventually eradicating female infanticide.
2.3. Society for Integrated Social Upliftment (SISU) on female infanticide
A girl’s family has to also bear the burden of the financial practices/customs prevalent in
their community/caste apart from giving the dowry to the bridegroom jewels and
household assets for the bride as per their expectation. Raymond Samuel, the Director of
SISU, lists the major events in the life of the girls in the kallar community that demands
high financial need in the family such as, “delivery costs, after delivery rituals and

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celebrations, ear piercing ceremony, age attending time (puberty) function, clothing, food,
gifts during festivals 3 times a year harvest festival, Pongal, Diwali, and Sithirai.”134
Agriculture is the main occupation for the Kallar community but the construction of
Vaigai dam diverted the river water leaving half the land with canal and well irrigation.
Now, there is a possibility of two crops cultivation if canal irrigation is available. Over the
years the kallar community has turned to be a peasant community with marginal land
holdings. Due to the monsoon failures in the recent past fragmentation and mortgaging the
land are in practice.
Animal husbandry is the secondary occupation, the community has the practice of rearing
animals on sharing basis and the shepherd gets one half of the number of calves. When the
Kallars turned to agriculture for their livelihood, they practiced sustenance agriculture. But
seed, water and cattle management, were under the control of women, who played
powerful productive and reproductive roles. Kinship marriage was the norm, with bride
price being paid by men. Dowry was unheard but the expenses related to social functions
prevailed. Thus the status of women was relatively better before 1950.
The green revolution gained momentum after 1950 and the Vaigai dam was constructed in
1958. Part of the land in Usilampatti region was covered by the Vaigai irrigation system,
but the rest remained rain fed. Land under the irrigation system generally gets water supply
for six months. The wetland farmers shifted to cash crop cultivation. The dry land farmers
had to take a risk on nature. This gave rise to wide economic disparities between the
Kallars of the rain fed area and those of the wetland area.
The economic disparity disrupted the traditional family system and marriage bonds.
Economic prosperity encouraged the Kallars of the wetland area to spend more money on
134
Raymond Samuel, “Prevention of Female Infanticide” Asia Cutting Edge, February 2004, p.23.

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marriages. Bride price was replaced by the dowry system. Kinship marriage lost its value.
Giving and receiving large dowries became a status symbol. The dry land Kallars, to
maintain the status quo, adopted the dowry system. 'More daughters mean more expenses'
thus became the saying of the Kallar community. An intense anti-daughter attitude
developed. Thus the incidence of female infanticide increased in the recent decades.
Society for Integrated Social Upliftment (SISU) is a Christian voluntary service
organization working for the children at risk in several parts of India. Sisu (means infant)
is working for the prevention of female infanticide among the Kallar community in
Madurai district of Tamilnadu. Raymond Samuel, the Director of SISU, makes the
following remarks on the practice of female infanticide.
The practice is carried out by the pressure from in laws and home delivery is
conducted by the mid wives where the killing mostly occurs. Some of the
common methods are: paddy husk is fed to the baby to kill, cactus plant milk is
fed in the mouth /or rubbed on the umbilical cord, feeding the baby stomach full
and to hold it upside down to choke is another method of killing, feeding with
very hot chicken soup, leaving the baby without feeding to die gradually so as to
avoid any doubt to others.135
SISU, in partnership with the Vocational Training and Rehabilitation Center (VTRC) that
runs an infant rescue home in Madurai, concentrated on the challenges of female
infanticide. SISU, after a survey in 1991 to study the socio-economic status of the people
in the Usilampatti region to analyze the causes for female infanticide, in partnership with
the CARE and with the support of World Vision and Redt een kind
(Save the Child Foundation of Holland) started two community based projects called
Female Infanticide Prevention Projects (FIPP). These projects were carried out in two
clusters. Samuel sums them up as follows.
135
Ibid. p.26.

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In cluster I. ten villages were adopted for Community Health Programs (CHP) as the entry
point to directly work with expectant mothers. SISU also conducts health teaching for
women and health training for volunteers. SISU works in close partnership with the
Primary Health Centers (PHC). Register births to track female child births, counseling for
the expectant mother by home visits, immunization arrangement with PHC and family
planning guidance and assistance are some of the other major activities. CHP in II clusters
presently covers 26 villages in the periphery of 8 villages in Usilampatti block of Madurai
district.
Community Development Programs (CDP) adopted 18 villages after Community diagnosis
and meeting with villagers. The aim of the program is to create the social awareness such
as, “hope building to save the girl babies, tapping the government’s resources and services.
SISU also has organized the sangams (societies) such as the Village Development Women
Association (WDWA) and Village Development Association (VDA). The impact of the
sangams is: “savings (individual members) with association, subscription for membership
in the association, spending for common needs/schemes (interest free), working together
for preventing female infanticide, caring for the member needs and prevention of female
infanticide”136.
SISU, also runs micro credit programs for petty schemes, matching schemes for small
business, long term schemes like milk animal, association own schemes for Agriculture,
vocational training like sewing, adult literacy and food processing training centers (FPTC)
started with the help of Government Nutrition Board. SISU provides agriculture
development services such as, well deepening assistance with tiller and tractor for
agricultural work at nominal rates.
136
Ibid, p.26.

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Further, it provides, young girl’s development program for self-development, career
guidance, marriage and family life guidance. SISU runs the Girl Child Study Support
Program (GSSP) and 72 girls those who were saved from the female infanticide are given
educational support. In Girl Child Development Program (GCDP), Milk animal loan
scheme for 200 families were given to generate income to the family. The future plan
includes, establishing the milk society/cooperatives and make a saving of 10 % income for
future girl child studies support, federation of 20 associations for joint economic
enterprise, extended the projects to the surrounding 41 villages. The holistic approach by
SISU has made a significant and promoted the value of the girl children in the society.
2.4. Bethel Agricultural Fellowship (BAF) on female infanticide
The History of BAF traces back to the arrival of Danish Lutheran Mission to the Shervaroy
Hills, in Salem and Dharmapuri districts. JTK Daniel traces the history as, “The Rev.
Morton Anderson landed in Tamilnadu first in Thiruvannamalai and Vellore area around
1890 and later moved to Shervaroy Hills, to serve under Danish Lutheran Mission137. The
Andersons were involved in a medical mission combating malaria in the entire area of
Shervaroy Hills.
After the death of the Andersons, their eldest daughter Julia Johanine, who married
Richard Victor Philip, carried on the ministry. They owned 89 acres of land around
Danishpet, in the Kadayampatti block of Salem district, which they were willing to donate
for the mission work on a condition to take care of them as long as they lived, as they had
no children.138 Mr. P. Samuel and Rev. Dr. Samuel Kamaleson after much prayer, decided
to accept the invitation of the Philips and called the place as Bethel Agricultural
Fellowship, which was registered as a society with the Government on 27 July 1963 under
137
JTK Daniel, “History of Bethel Agricultural fellowship”, unpublished paper, p.1.
138
Ibid, p.2.

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the Act XXI of 1860 and the campus was further extended by adding about 30 more acres
of adjacent land for the ministries. Rev. Dr. Sam Kamaleson became the President and Mr.
P. Samuel as the first General Secretary of this newly registered fellowship called as
Bethel Agricultural Fellowship.
The mission statement of Bethel Agricultural Fellowship is as follows:
“Bethel Agricultural Fellowship, a Christ-centered community lives, in fellowship

and bears witness by submitting to the text of the Bible, rightly acknowledging the
vitality of prayer, strives to establish kingdom community among the un-reached
poorest of the poor and sensitively responds to the felt needs of the society.”139
The objective of the society is
“… to promote education, literature, science, religion, charity, social reform, arts,

crafts, cottage industries, sports, public health, social service, the diffusion of
useful knowledge generally and the knowledge of the saving power of the Lord
Jesus Christ in particular without any discrimination on account of nationality, race,
caste, creed, language or any other consideration.”140
The BAF with above vision and objectives developed three sister societies called as Bethel
Gospel Fellowship (BGF), Bethel Bible Institute (BBI) and Bethel Welfare Center (BWC)
in extending the holistic mission with special reference to the child care ministry. BAF
initially concentrated in Salem and Dharmapuri districts but later extended their mission to
the other parts of Tamilnadu.
The Bethel Agricultural Fellowship has been in the childcare ministry for the past forty
one years (since 1963), in Danishpet, Kadayampatti block of Salem District, Tamilnadu.
The Fellowship cares for 1800 children under residential childcare and 1300 children in
community childcare. Bethel has 13 branches all over Tamilnadu. The childcare includes a
baby rescue home with 73 babies (as on February 2007). The baby rescue home saved
many girl babies from female infanticide since 1993 (few case studies and the photographs
139
BAF Planning Meet 2001, p. 3.
140
BAF Memorandum of the Association, 1965. p.4

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are in the appendix). The BAF has made a significant contribution in the institutional child
care mission both in state and in the country. Presently the child care mission of the society
is taking a shift from the institutional child care to the community child care.
Bethel Baby Rescue Home is an excellent attempt in saving the girl babies. Having sixteen
long years of such service to the community, the evil (female infanticide) in the society has
not reduced or prevented or eradicated. The baby rescue home should not lead the society
as an escape and a license to continue to live in the evil practice. It should look for the
means to address the cause of this evil and take steps to solve the root of the problem than
the result of the problem. The principles highlighted in this study will be a guiding tool to
develop appropriate action in the mission for effectively relate to the practice of female
infanticide.
It is the high time the BAF mission and other such child care mission to find adoption for
the saved or rescued babies. As a child grows and learns that their parents rejected her, this
will cause further damage to the child. BAF mission is looking look for the possibility of
giving adoption. Recently, Bethel has received the “Fit Certificate”, which is the initial
requirement to qualify for registering to give adoption and the mission taking steps towards
the same.
The field survey clearly shows that where basic education is low, female infanticide is very
high. This tragedy can be avoided by taking steps to educate the community. To eradicate
this evil, community education is in very much in need. Therefore, adult education, health
education and family planning, can be organized to prevent female infanticide. Due to the
lack of health education the community gets in for local medical care , the result is poor
health to the saved or rescued babies. The babies rescued through the cradle baby scheme
of the Tamilnadu Government did not live long.

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One very important aspect of this survey is that people’s economic conditions lead to
female infanticide. The self-employment programs suggested in this study should be
considered to assist the community to generate income to the family and improve their
living standards. Research shows that many people from these districts get into bounded
labor in many other parts of the country, working in quarries, brick works etc. Economic
development will not only prevent this evil but address other social evils like child labor,
and child prostitution.
The contributions of SISU, BAF and other such NGOs in combating the female infanticide
are remarkable. The challenge in the society is great and the mission of the church need to
consider such ventures in their agenda. The recent development to study “Child Theology”
in theological curriculum is one such attempt in the country. The Government and the
NGOs have identified education and legal assistance as the two major challenges in
combating female infanticide. Hence the attention is focused to study them to draw
missiological implications to female infanticide.
3. Challenge in education for Female Infanticide
3.1. Female education and infant mortality
The Indian government has expressed a strong commitment towards education for all;
however, India still has one of the lowest female literacy rates in Asia. This low level of
literacy not only has a negative impact on women’s lives but also on their families’ lives
and on their country’s economic development.
Numerous studies show that illiterate women have high levels of fertility and mortality,
poor nutritional status, low earning potential, and little autonomy within the household. A
woman’s lack of education also has a negative impact on the health and well being of her
children. For instance, a survey in India found that infant mortality was inversely related to

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mother’s educational level. This indicator measures the educational level of mothers all of
new births. Research indicates that one of the most important predictors of positive
outcomes for children is the educational level of the mother. Research also indicates that a
child’s success in school is linked to the mother’s educational level.
Infant Mortality Rates by Mother’s Educational Level 1992-1993
Additionally, the lack of an educated population can be an impediment to the country’s
economic development. The Indian government’s commitment to education is stated in its
constitution with an article promising “free and compulsory education for all children until
they complete the age of 14”. The National Policy on Education, which was updated in
1992, and the 1992 Program of Action both reaffirmed the government’s commitment to
improving literacy levels, by providing special attention to girls and children from
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

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3.2. Improvements on literacy levels
Although literacy levels are low, there has been progress in improving educational
attainment for both sexes in India over the last few decades. In 1971, only 22 percent of
women and 46 percent of men were literate. By 1991, 39 percent of women and 64 percent
of men were literate. Thus, there has been a large increase in the proportion of women
who are literate in just 20 years. Despite the improvements in literacy, there continues to
be a large gap between the literacy levels of men and of women. While there have,
however, been substantial increases in literacy rates in both urban and rural areas, the gap
between the two sectors has not narrowed appreciably.
Although there are numerous studies demonstrating a link between education and a variety
of demographic indicators (fertility, infant and child mortality), more recent studies are
finding that there is a minimum threshold of education (more than 5 or 6 years) that must
be achieved before there are significant improvements in female autonomy141, particularly
in a highly gender-stratified society such as India. There is gender gap in university
education. Currently, a very small proportion of the Indian population has a college
education, just over 3 percent of men and 1 percent of women.
The Non-Formal Education (NFE) program was created by the Indian Government in
1979-80 to reach children that were not in the formal education system, particularly girls
and working children. While the NFE program has the potential to solve many of the
problems with access to education, as with any type of education program, the quality
varies from location.
141
Autonomy is defined as decision making power within the home, economic and social self-reliance,
confidence in interacting with the outside world.

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3.3. Barriers in education
There are several reasons for the low levels of literacy in India, not the least of which is the
high level of poverty. Over one-third of the population is estimated to be living below the
poverty line. Although school attendance is free, the costs of books, uniforms, and
transportation to school can be too much for poor families. Poor families are also more
likely to keep girls at home to care for younger or to work in the family. If a family has to
choose between educating a son or a daughter because of financial restrictions, typically
the son will be chosen.
Negative parental attitudes toward educating daughters can also be a barrier to a girl’s
education. Many parents view educating sons as an investment because the sons will be
responsible for caring for aging parents. On the other hand, parents may see the education
of daughters a waste of money because daughters will eventually live with their husbands’
families, and the parents will not benefit directly from their education. Also, daughters
with higher levels of education will likely have higher dowry expenses as they will want a
comparably educated husband. However, education sometimes lowers the dowry for a girl
because it is viewed as an asset by the husband’s family.
3.4. Gender bias in curriculum
Gender bias in curriculum still exists. As long ago as 1965, the Indian government agreed
to rewrite textbooks so that men and women would not be portrayed in gender stereotyped
roles. However, a study of Indian textbooks done in the 1980s found that men were the
main characters in the majority of lessons. In these lessons, men held high-prestige
occupations and were portrayed as strong, adventurous, and intelligent. In contrast, when
women were included they were depicted as weak and helpless, often as the victims of
abuse and beatings. These depictions are strong barriers for improving women’s position in

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society. Therefore, both the government and the NGOs have a great role to improve the
education particularly the female education to meet the challenges of female infanticide.
The Christian contribution to the nation-building of India in terms of education has been
widely acknowledged and appreciated. Education was an integral part of the missionary
commitment, and a commitment of the life and witness of the church today. In the length
and breadth of this country Christians took the initiative and founded schools and other
educational institutions and through the newly educated generations brought about radical
changes in the value system and worldviews.
Education is considered as one of the most potent instruments of peaceful social change
and also a significant means to develop among individuals the ability of self-actualization
and self-realization. In view of this crucial role, education has to respond to the current and
emerging needs of the society and aspirations of the people. But by its very nature
education continues to be rigid and conservative and quite often tends to defer its response
to societal needs. Family life education is one of the educational innovations that are aimed
at enabling the existing education system to respond to the emerging needs and
requirements.
Family life education aims at enabling the learners, to understand the importance of the
institution of family, its changing composition and structure, functions, family roles,
responsibilities and interrelationship between family resources and family welfare. Further,
to appreciate physical, physiological, psychological and social changes and developments
during the process of growing up, conception and consequences of adolescent pregnancy,
female infanticides and to be aware of the HIV/AIDS. It also aims out understanding the
significance of marriage, responsible parenthood, changing gender roles and male
responsibilities in the family life. The main objective of family life education can be said

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to be the development of a positive attitude and responsible behavior towards various
issues of family life and the appreciation of traditional family values.
The objectives of family life education can be attained substantially only when it becomes
an integral part of the content and process of the existing education system. For this, it is
essential to prepare a conceptual framework that guides the process of integration of its
elements in the school curriculum framework, syllabi, textbooks and other components of
the teaching-learning process. It is still more important to integrate family life education in
the process of teacher preparation, suitably incorporating its elements in the pre-service
and in-service teacher education.
Educate the society through catechisms, liturgies about the suffering of the unborn, offer
training to women and make them feel wanted are the traditional teaching methods which
may not be effective for imparting family life education. Therefore, non-conventional
methods of teaching like values clarification, enquiry method, problem solving method and
other interactive mode of teaching may be adopted. Students need to be increasingly
involved in co-curricular activities focused on the critical concerns of family life
education.
4. Legal challenges to Female Infanticide
There are more passive forms of infanticide like neglect, sustained nutritional deprivation,
delayed health care for female infants or, in other words, an unequal allocation of
household resources detrimental to the health of the girl child. In fact, the passive forms of
infanticide remain unrecorded as infanticide by health workers and sociologists.
The earliest known legislation against female infanticide was enacted by the British
Government in 1870. Prior to this, there were regional regulations established by the
British, such as the Bengal Regulation of XXI 1795 and Regulation III of 1807 that

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declared that infanticide amounted to murder. The Infanticide Regulation Act of 1870 was
passed nearly a hundred years after the British discovered it officially. This Act acquired
the compulsory registration of births and deaths to enable verification of female children a
few years after birth.
Since Independence, the Constitution of India contains certain provisions that guarantee
the welfare and development of children. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) also has defined
infanticide as murder. While the deliberate act of causing a miscarriage or injury to the
newborn child, exposure of the infant and concealment of births are covered under
Sections 312 to 318 of IPC. The intention of preventing a child being born and causing
bodily harm to the infant are covered under I.P.C Section 315. Section 317 makes the
concealment of the birth and secret disposal of the dead body an offence.
4.1. Laws and policies affecting women
Numerous laws exist to protect women’s rights, including the Equal Remuneration Act, the
Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act, the Sati (Widow Burning) Prevention Act, and the
Dowry Prohibition Act. However, the Government often was unable to enforce these laws,
especially in rural areas in which traditions were deeply rooted. Prostitution was common,
with an estimated 2.3 million prostitutes in the country, some 5,75,000 of who were
children.142 The Government continued to review legislation on marriage. It passed the
Indian Divorce (Amendment) Act during 2001. The act had been widely criticized as
biased against women. The church can take steps to promote the implications of the laws
and polices that affect the woman in the society.
142
“India: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2002” http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/.htm

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4.2. Law on Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique
During the Decade of the Girl Child (1990-2000), the Central and State governments
introduced various schemes aimed at enhancing the status of the girl child. However, they
have had little impact. Sabu George remarks on this:
“The structures necessary for the implementation of the 1994 law have to be
created at the district level. Volunteers have to be actively mobilized to monitor the
registration and the functioning of the sex-determination clinics in different
districts. Effective alliances with ethical Doctors have to be made from the local
levels. Test cases have to be filed against the violators. And also important is that
we have to preserve with the media to highlight obstacles in the implementation of
the Act. The consciousness of our society has to be raised against this crime.
Simultaneously we have to get involved in actions to ensure that the public at large
becomes supportive of this campaign. 143
All this is just one step towards efforts to empower women in our society.
In India, the recent history of social legislation is hardly encouraging as far as their
implementation is concerned. However, the national law against prenatal diagnostics is an
optimistic step. For fifteen years (1979-1994), when private sex determination clinics were
first established and the practice of female feticide flourished in northwestern India, the
people had received no message questioning the ethics of this practice. The acting out of
the law enabled the National Human Rights Commission to direct the Medical Council of
India to take action against doctors found misusing the prenatal diagnostic techniques.
Today, obvious advertisements for fetal sex determination once seen in Bombay trains in
the early eighties and in Delhi newspapers in the late eighties and nineties have virtually
disappeared, thanks to laws.
The first state law enacted against sex determination (SD) was the Maharashtra Regulation
of Use of Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act in 1988.144 This was the result of dynamic
public protest in the state. After this law was implemented, the number of SD clinics in
143
Sabu, George. “The Need for Action Against Female Feticide in India”, www.aidindia. org/ aipsn/ health/
feticide.html, p.1.
144
Ibid. p.1.

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Mumbai went down and the practice of SD also lessened. This achievement was all due to
continued agitation and active monitoring of the Act by the FASDSP [Forum Against Sex
Determination and Sex Pre-selection]. Unfortunately, this campaign faltered when the
FASDSP became non-functional and quite a few of the Mumbai sex determination clinics
resumed operation. However, this campaign proved that a lot can be accomplished by
sustained efforts by the state governments. Tamilnadu has yet to take effective and prompt
action in the implementation of this Act.
Summary
The government in Tamilnadu for the past twenty years made many attempts to combat the
female infanticide. In looking at the government reports one can say that the practice of
female infantile is arrested but the 2001 census report and the reality in the fields is totally
different and reveals the challenge is still present in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai
districts. The present study based on Bethel mission in Salem and Dharmapuri and SISU
in Madurai throws lights on the possible partnership in mission towards female infanticide.
There are limitations in the NGOs intervention plans and these can be addressed
sufficiently by promoting the mutuality in mission. The secular and sacred, church and
para-church, “we” and “they” and all such differences that hinder such mutuality needs to
be kept aside and come to a common platform to address the challenges of female
infanticide.
The two main area of concern in relation to female infanticide are the education and legal
assistance. The educational missions in these regions need to take steps to improve the
literary levels very specially for woman. The educational missions need to shift from
business motif to service motif. The gender gaps in higher education, vocational education,
and alternative education need to be addressed to develop a relevant missiological

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approach to female infanticide. The next important area of contribution identified is the
legal assistance. The legal intervention plans discussed earlier can throw lights both the
government and non-governmental organizations to develop appropriate actions to combat
female infanticide.
In the mission of the church, there is a great need to build partnership with the Government
and Non-Government organizations.
The Missiological studies in relation to the study of Sociology need to draw new
curriculum to train men and women to face challenges such as female infanticide,
HIV/AIDS, and child labor. There is already a crying need from the NGOs for such
curriculum and training. Very recently in India, VIVA has made an attempt to incorporate
these challenges in to the missiological education. The mission enterprises in Tamilnadu
and in India need to see this reality and prepare the church to the challenges in the century.
These sociological findings and the strategies need to be seen in the light of the biblical
values; hence the next chapter will study the biblical perspectives of creation, abortion,
infanticide, euthanasia and holistic mission.

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Chapter IX
Biblical Perspectives on Creation, Abortion, Infanticide, Family and Mission.
God created human beings. Why did He145 create us? Does the world as we know it, give
an adequate answer to that question? God created us in His image. Surely this must have
something to do with why we are here. God created human beings male and female. It is
true that the focus of interest today is upon human beings. Human life is precious and the
challenges of female infanticide drive the mission of the church to establish the biblical
values of life in protecting the lives of the innocent.
The biblical perspectives on creation, abortion, infanticide, family and holistic mission
give the theological basis for the mission of the church. Hence, in this chapter an attempt is
made to present the insights from the scripture on creation, abortion, infanticide and family
with special reference to Genesis 1: 26-27 and Exodus 21:22-25. The study aims out
understanding the concept of the image of God, the implications of creation, the status of
the unborn, abortion, euthanasia family and mission, to draw their implications to the
1. Biblical perspectives of Creation
In the Bible, of all the references to creation, probably the most well known is Genesis 1:
146
1- 2:4. Long before the abortion debate, scholars of the Old Testament agreed that the
145
The researcher is aware of inclusive language to refer to “God” but use the masculine “He” and “His”
here for the convenience sake.
146
That certainly is not the only place in Scripture where the subject is treated. Psalmists mentioned creation
or the Creator frequently (Psalms 8:3-4; Psalms 74:17; Psalms 95:5; Psalms 100:3; Psalms 104:24,Psalms
104:30; Psalms 118:24; Psalms 40:5; Psalms 51:10; Psalms 64:9; Psalms 24:1-2; Psalms 102:25; Psalms
145:10). The second half of Isaiah (Psalms 40-66) has four direct references to creation (Isaiah 40:28; Isaiah
43:7, Isaiah 43:15; Isaiah 45:7; Isaiah 65:17). Job alluded to creation in two speeches (Job 10:8; Job 26:7),
and God's answer to Job contains one reference to the subject (Job 38:4).
The New Testament reveals that Jesus “made” all things (John 1:3) and that “all things were created by him,
and for him” (Colossians 1:16). Paul's assertion recorded in Ephesians 3:9 is that God “created all things.”
The writer of Hebrews notes that Jesus was the agent God used to create the world (Hebrews 1:2).
Continue…Because God created all things, He is worthy of “glory and honor and power” (Revelation 4:11).

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most important Hebrew word describing a human being was nephesh, which means
“breath.” Progress and a climax were a part of the biblical account of creation. Progress
can be seen in the increase of personal attention God gave in His creative work. The
human race is a special and distinctive climax of the creation.
God had specific purpose in creation147. Scripture focuses our attention on God himself as
the Creator. In Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 God is the subject of most of the sentences. In contrast to
pantheism the Creator is distinct from His creation (Psalm 90:2). In contrast to deism God
continues to be personally interested in His handiwork; for He upholds, sustains, and
preserves it (Nehemiah 9:6). The Bible further emphasizes the fact that God is the Creator
of all things. Repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments this is brought to our
attention (Exodus 20:11; Psalm 146:6; Acts 14:17; Revelation 4:11; 10:6). This is one of
the distinctive elements of the biblical revelation. In contrast to ancient heathenism and
modern materialism, the Bible teaches a genuine beginning. This chapter focuses on the
human being as image of God, image of God and children, interpretations of the image of
God and the implications of the biblical perspectives of creation in reference to the practice
of female infanticide. This chapter also looks in to the biblical perspectives of abortion,
infanticide, euthanasia and family to draw their implications for female infanticide.
1.1. Image of God and Human beings
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…male and female He
created them” (Genesis. 1: 26-27). This passage contains a key to the understanding of
humans and their nature. Scholars through the ages have sought to unravel the mystery of
that statement. The Psalmist asked, “What is man?” (Psalms. 8:4). Philosophers,
Continue…Luke testified that the living God “made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are
therein” (Acts 14:15). The consistent report of the Bible is that God is the Source of the whole created order.
147
God had purpose in creation. He created “for his own ends” or for His own pleasure (Proverbs 16:4;
Revelation 4:11) and for His glory (Isaiah 43:7). He wanted the earth to be inhabited (Isaiah 45:18). All
Creation is thus an expression of His will and power.

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theologians, psychologists, and anthropologists have frequently explored that topic. Many
have realized that the human being “is fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalms. 139:14).
Relevant passages referring to males and females as the image of God are Genesis 1:26-27;
5:1,3; 9:6; 1 Corinthians 11:7 (discussion of headship in the family); Colossians 3:10
(exhortations to the believer to put on the new man); and James 3:9 (treatment of the
proper use of the tongue). Psalm 8 does not contain the words "image of God," but the
passage deals in poetic form with the creation of man and the area of his dominion.
Bible students have tried to make a distinction in the meaning of “image” and “likeness.”
Image has been considered the essential nature of humans as God's special creation, and
likeness as reflecting this image in such qualities as goodness, grace, and love. They
maintain that humankind in the fall retained the image but lost the likeness. The two
words, however, seem to identify the same divine act. The repetition represents the Hebrew
literary style of parallelism used for emphasis. The Hebrew selem or image refers to a
hewn or carved image (1 Samuel 6:5; 2 Kings 11:18) like a statue, which bears a strong
physical resemblance to the person or thing it represents. The word likeness, (demuth),
means a facsimile.148 Neither of the words implies that persons are divine. They were
endowed with some of the characteristics of God. Is there is a likeness but not the
sameness? What does it mean “to be created in the image of God”? A study on
Genesis.1:26-27 will throw more light on answering this question.
Genesis 1:26-27
v.26. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them
rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the
earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
v.27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
148
Compare 2 Kings 16:10, “fashion” or “pattern” (NAS), “sketch” (NIV, REB), “exact model” (TEV).

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This key passage underscores the idea that both men and women are made in the image of
God and that both genders together reflect the divine. Male and female together are equal
in nature, blessing and dominion. Though the masculine pronoun is often used to describe
God, it is not because men resemble the Almighty more than women, but rather because
the scriptures also reveal the idea of God as both Father as well as Creator.
There is a plural usage of the word “man.” means both male and female. “Humanity” is a
better translation, for in this verse the word “adam” clearly includes all humans, male and
female alike. Some scholars think it is significant that God names the human race by one
sex, “man”149. The proper name “adam”, without a definite article, really does not occur
until Gen 4:25. The word ha'adam is used with both singular and collective meanings in
these chapters. The Hebrew word “ezer” does not imply a subservient role. Probably the
best word to be used here in translation is "companion," for ezer is masculine in gender,
emphasizing equality150. Genesis chapter two makes distinctions between male and female.
151
As Richard Davidson writes, “The movement in Genesis 2…is not from superior to
inferior, but from incompleteness to completeness.” The word “adam” means originally a
human being (cf. Gen. 2.5) or mankind collectively (Gen.1.26). The word
“ 'adham, meaning "man" or the proper name "Adam", usually appears in prose
texts with the article, and in poetic texts without the article. Predominantly, this
word occurs as a collective singular designating a class (as "man" in English), and
therefore can be translated by "mankind" or as a plural "men." At the same time, it
is often used of individuals... and functions adjectivally ("human") or indefinitely
("someone"), but never appears in the plural or in the construct…152”
149
Raymond C. Ortland, “Male-Female Equality and Male Headship: Genesis 1-3,” in Recovering Biblical
Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism (ed) John Piper and Wayne Grudem,
Wheaton: Crossway, 1991. This book is the most thorough defense of the conservative position. P.97.
150
Victor P Hamilton,., The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17, Grand rapids: Eerdmans, 1990. p.175
151
Richard M. Davidson, “Headship, Submission, and Equality in Scripture,” in Women in Ministry: Biblical
and Historical Perspectives, (ed) Nancy Vyhmeister, Berrien Springs: Andrews University Press, p.261.
152
H.D. Preuss, “Adham’ in Botterweck and Ringgren (ed) Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament,
Volume 1 Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1977, p.75. For other interpretations refer Derek Kidner,
Genesis, Leicester: IVP, 1976, p.50-53.

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Cooperation, rather than competition, between the sexes is encouraged because both were
created in God’s image. Through the creation in Genesis, the Bible seeks to show that
differences between men and women can be complementary and not necessarily
adversarial or contradictory. For example, while there is a difference between how God
created Adam and Eve, both are said to have been made in the image and likeness of God.
The real question today is not only when human life begins, but also what is the value of
human life? The real issue is whether to affirm and protect the sanctity of all human life, or
to embrace a social ethic where male human lives are valued and females are not.
The Hebrew word “tselem” is always translated as "image" or "images."153 The root
meaning “tselem” (image) is "to cut off." An image, then, was originally a likeness that
was "cut out" of some material. The most common use of the word “tselem” (image) is
with a concrete meaning, especially for images of false gods154. Another use of the word
“tselem” has a more abstract meaning, denoting various likenesses. The image of God
texts quoted in the above (Gen. 1:26, 27; 5:3; 9:6) fall into this category. An image is a
likeness that reflects and often represents what it is derived from. The word for "likeness"
is demuth, which comes from a root meaning "to be like, resemble."155 The likeness might
be of external appearance or of a more abstract resemblance.
The words "image" and "likeness," then, are used with various senses in the scriptures.
They are very similar but not identical. The question that most concerns us is how they
should be understood in the passages that teach that man was made in the image and
likeness of God. This can be summed as follows:
153
Gen 1:26,27, Gen 5:3, Gen 9:6; Num 33:52, 1Sa 6:5,11, 2Ki 11:18, 2Ch 23:17, Psa 73:20, Eze 7:20, Eze
16:17, Eze 23:14, Amo 5:26.
154
Amos 5:26, 2 Kings 11:18 and Ezek. 7:20.
155
Examples of likenesses of external appearance can be seen in 2 Chron. 4:3; Ezek. 1:5; 8:2; and 10:l.
Examples of more abstract likenesses can be seen in Gen.1:26, 5:1, Isa. 1:9, and 14:14.

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Both tselem and demuth can be used for concrete objects that look like, reflect,
or represent something else, but that is more properly the realm of tselem. Both
words can also be used for abstract resemblance or comparative likeness
between two things, but that is more properly the realm of demuth.156
G. VonRad remarks that “the image of God contains no direct explanation about the form
which specially constitutes it; its real point is rather in the purpose for which the image is
given to man.”157 Human beings are made in the image of God and are, therefore, of
inestimable worth. God has given people the highest dignity of all creation. Such human
dignity prohibits female infanticide and actively causing a person’s death.
In the Bible, the word “image” (in Greek eikò) indicates the very essence of the reality that
is represented and made present. Image of God highlights the fact that the human being
shares the knowledge and freedom of God. Therefore, to be created “in the image and
likeness of God” means two things: the first is that each of us exists, and the second is that
each of us is free and capable of knowing and loving.
In the Bible human being is seen as the crown of God’s creation, whose special glory is
that he is created in the image of God and after His likeness. The image of God in the
doctrine of creation is of the greatest importance because the image is that which
distinguishes human beings from animals and other creatures.
The Roman Catholic and the Lutheran view of the image of God differ from the Reformed
view of the image of God. The Reformed view has a far more comprehensive view of the
image of God; it usually distinguish between the image of God in a restricted, and the
image of God in a more comprehensive sense. The restricted sense consists in the spiritual
qualities with which man was created, true knowledge, true righteousness, and holiness.
That these belong to the image of God follows from Ephesians 4:24; and Colossians 3:10.
156
Preuss H.D., “Damah” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, vol.3, p.259.
157
G VonRad, Old Testament Theology, Vol.I London: SCM press, 1977, p.145.

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Despite overtones of anthropomorphisms in its use of “image” and “likeness,” the opening
chapters of Genesis portray metaphorically the unique covenantal relationship between the
Creator and His creation of humankind. Most contemporary Jewish interpretations of the
image of God, Hebrew “tselem elohim”, are in general agreement with this comment, “The
purpose of Jewish existence is to be a people in the image of God.”158 The image of God in
the more comprehensive sense is found in the fact that man is a spiritual being, rational,
moral and immortal, in the body, not as a material substance, but as the organ of the soul,
and in his dominion over the lower creation. It is only in virtue of the image of God in this
broader sense, that man, after he had lost the image of God in the restricted sense,
consisting of true knowledge, righteousness and holiness, can still be called the image-
bearer of God. (Gen. 9:6; I Corinthians 11:7; 15:49; James 3:9). The biblical understanding
of the image of God clearly reveals the fact that there is no room for gender
discriminations in the creation of the human beings.
1.2. Image of God and Children
The 'likeness of God' is translated through procreation. Creating both male and female in
his own image means that a girl child is not inferior to a boy child in any way. That both
sexes are created in the image of God is repeatedly emphasized in Gen. 1:26-27. Based on
the creation narratives in Genesis chapters 1-2, J.B. Jeyaraj rightly states that, “God has
given the same image to a girl child what he has given to a male child. She is equal to a
boy in all respects”159.
Children created in God’s image are being reduced to commodities and objects. Their
rights are violated and their dignity not respected. The Lausanne Covenant on Christian
158
Mordechai M.Kaplan, The Purpose and Meaning of Jewish Existence: A People in the Image of God,
Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1964 ,p.318.
159
Jesudason Baskar Jeyaraj, Biblical perspectives on children and their protection: Towards a Child
Theology, Unpublished paper, 2006. p.1.

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social responsibility (paragraph 5) states, “Because mankind are made in the image of God,
every person, regardless of race, religion, color, culture, class, sex or age, has an intrinsic
dignity because of which he should be respected and served, not exploited”160 It is the
society, that makes the girls inferior to boys and use the practices such as female
infanticide. The identity of a child is not of the sex but the image of God is to be
emphasized.
In addition to saying that children are gifts and signs of God’s blessing. The child already
has the value and depth of full humanity. Recognizing the full humanity of children is the
first step toward treating all children with respect. The Bible teaches that God made
humankind in the image of God (Genesis 1:27); thus, all children, regardless of race,
gender, or class, are fully human and worthy of respect. Jesus161 identifies himself with
children and equates welcoming a little child Children are sources of joy and pleasure in
the family. Children are a sign of God’s blessing to procreate the earth (Genesis. 1:28), of
honor (I Chronicles 25:4-6), of joy and delight (Ezekiel. 24:25 Psalm. 127:5, Luke. 1:14-
18).
The first commandment which God gave man in the form of a blessing is “be fruitful and
multiply” (Gen.1:28). Procreation of human generation is God's plan in creation. Psalm
127:3 says, "Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him”. We see
from the above scriptures that children are a gift from God. What should we do with a gift,
especially a gift from God? Reject it or receive it? How should we receive the gift of
children? Matthew 18:5 says, "Whoever welcomes a little child… welcomes me." The
word 'welcome' that is used here is the Greek word, 'dechomal' which means to “accept a
160
Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE), The Manila Manifesto. P.47
161
Some of the most significant passages in the gospels are Mark 9:33-37, Luke 9:46-48, Matthew 18:1-5;
Mark 10:13-16, Matthew 19:13-15, Luke 18:15-17; Matthew 11:25 and 21:14-16. For discussion of these and
other passages in the New Testament, see Judith Gundry-Volf, “The Least and the Greatest: Children in the
New Testament” in The Child in Christian Thought, 29-60.

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gift deliberately and readily; to receive heartily; reaching out eagerly to receive something;
looking for; waiting with earnest expectation.”162 Therefore, as children are created by
God, sources of joy and pleasure, God’s gift and blessing there is no room even to think of
female infanticide.
1.3. Implications of Creation for female infanticide
In the creation account it is seen that men and women are, in their essence, equal in the
sight of God. This is the necessary foundation from which to deal with all gender-related
issues. Distinctions in masculine and feminine roles are ordained by God as part of the
created order. The roles between men and women originated in the pre-fall garden and
subsequently apply to all human beings. Since roles are a part of the original creation, then
they are inherent in the lives of all men and women and thus should find an echo in every
human heart.
Understanding our origin should do three things. First, it should give us a sense of value.
God did not breathe life into the other creatures in the same way he did with man. They
were all spoken into being. Human alone has been created in God’s image, uniquely
formed by God and given the breath of God. This makes human beings uniquely valuable
in God’s creation.
Second, it should help us to treat others with dignity. Because human beings have been
created by God and in his image, we ought to treat everyone with the dignity that is in
accord with this great privilege. Third, it should create within us humility. It is from dust
that we came. And according to Genesis 3, it is to dust we shall return. We are God-
formed. God took man (ha adam) out of the dust of the ground (ha adama).
162
See, for example, Genesis 17:16, 28:3, and 49:25; Exodus 23:25-26; Deuteronomy 7:13-14, 28:11, and
30:9; Job 5:25; Psalm 127:3-5 and 128:3-4. See several other biblical references to children as “gifts” in Roy
B. Zuck, Precious in His Sight: Childhood and Children in the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House,
1996), p.49.

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There are distinctive that surround the creation of human beings in that set us apart from
every other aspect of creation: made in the image and likeness of God. (1:26, 27), given a
sexual identity: male and female (27), given the command to be fruitful and multiply (28),
given rule over the other ranks of creation (26, 28) and given a stamp of divine pleasure:
“very good” (31). The implications of creation is that one should sense the value of the
human beings so as to treat all with dignity and humility.
2. Biblical perspectives on Abortion
In 1990, Amartya Sen published a shocking article detailing the number of females in Asia
and North Africa that were lost to feticide, infanticide and general neglect. He put that
number at 100 million and coined the term “missing women” to describe these females lost
to the strong cultural preference for sons.163 The numbers from India and China were
particularly disturbing, and continue to be so. Although sex selective abortion is a fairly
recent phenomenon, its roots can be traced back to the age-old practice of female
infanticide. The Indian government has opposed the practices of female infanticide and sex
selective abortion, but has been slow and ineffectual in bringing about reform. The Dowry
Prohibition Act was passed in 1961 approximately a decade before sex determination
technology was introduced in India. Despite revisions in 1983 and 1985, this law has been
poorly enforced and it seems neglected.
The information related to sex selective abortion became a “hidden fact” with the
enforcement of law on abortion. To avoid the misuse of induced abortions, most countries
have enacted laws whereby only qualified gynecologists under specified conditions
performed in approved clinics/hospitals can do abortions. The Medical Termination of
163
Amartya. Sen,. “More than 100 million women are missing” New York Review of Books, 20, December,
1990, pp. 61-66.

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Pregnancy Act was enacted by the Indian Parliament in 1971 and came into force from
April 1, 1972. The MTP Act was again revised in 1975. The MTP Act lays down the
conditions under which a pregnancy can be terminated, and the persons who and place
where it will be performed. MTP made abortion legal in India, but many laws have since
been passed in attempt to limit and punish unauthorized procedures. These, however, are
hard to enforce. For long-term prevention, there must be an educational program for both
women and men within the country itself on the equality of the sexes.
It seems that there is no effective solution to this problem. Enforcing strict laws and
punishments would only drive the number of illegal abortions up. Is there no hope for the
future? Although there is no clear answer to this problem, we must not say that this cause
is hopeless. The Biblical perspectives on the subject lay guiding principles to the
challenges of abortion.
2. 1. Biblical perspectives on Abortion
The Bible teaches that the fetus in the womb at any stage is valued as highly as any adult
life. The following text is one among the many in the Bible that throws light on abortion.
Exodus. 21:22-25
22. If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely
but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the
woman’s husband demands and the court allows.
23. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life.
24. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
25. Burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
This passage is used as support for both sides of the debate. Scholars have suggested five
interpretive alternatives. In the first place, some scholars conclude that this form of the
noun yeled “child” is a plural of abstraction “with the sense ‘the product of her womb,’ an
apt term for an inadequately developed baby. Secondly, the term could refer to sex.
Thirdly, some regard it as a generic plural used with a view to including both

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contingencies. Fourthly, it might refer to a woman’s capacity for child bearing. Finally, it
could indicate “natural products in an unnatural condition.”164 None of the above options
have abundant examples outside of this passage that would serve to provide support.
Does the above text speak on the accidental miscarriage or premature birth? Pro-abortion
or pro-choice interpreters165 customarily contend that these verses present the occurrence of
166
an accidental miscarriage, while anti-abortion or pro-life interpreters suggest that the
text depicts a safe, premature birth. According to pro-abortion interpretation, verse 22
depicts an accidental miscarriage for which only a fine is levied. Therefore conclude that
the unborn baby must be considered less than human. In the anti-abortion interpretation,
verse 22 presents a safe premature birth for which a fine is levied.
Exodus 21:22-25 explains that the unborn child ought to be protected as a person and that
the same penalties are given when the child was offended as when an adult person was
offended. Opponents of abortion should not view this passage as one of their strongest
biblical arguments against abortion. Although these verses do not provide an absolute
prohibition of abortion, they clearly do not teach that an unborn child is less than human.
Even if verse 22 presents the accidental miscarriage of an unborn child, this conclusion in
no way legitimizes the deliberate aborting of an unborn child. Even according to the
accidental miscarriage view, since a fine is levied against the guilty parties for causing this
tragedy, the death of an unborn child is not acceptable. If an accidental miscarriage results
164
Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis Chapters 1-17, p.45.
165
Some proponents of this interpretation are Brevard S. Childs, The Book of Exodus, (Philadelphia:
Westminster, 1974) 471-72; Robert N. Congdon, “Exodus 21:21-25 and the Abortion Debate,” Bibliotheca
Sacra 146/582 (April-June 1989):132 -47; J. Philip Hyatt, Exodus, NCB (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980)
233 -34; Stanley I, “Two Traditions: The Law of Exodus 21:22-23 Revisited ,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 52
(1990):40 -45.
166
Some proponents of this view are Gleason L. Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 1982) 247-49; Brueggemann, “The Book of Exodus,” in the New Interpreter’s Bible, ed. Leander
E . Keck et al. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1990) 1:864; Jack W. Cottrell, “Abortion and the Mosaic Law,”
Christianity Today 17/13 (March 16, 1973): 6-9; James K. Hoffmeier, “Abortion and the Old Testament
Law,” in James K. Hoffmeier, (ed) Abortion: A Christian Understanding and Response, Grand Rapids:
Baker, 1987. p. 57-62.

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in a fine levied against the offender, how much more serious would be the intentional
killing of an unborn child? It is totally inappropriate to use this passage to sanction
abortion.
The word ratsach, from the Decalogue commandment in Exodus and Deuteronomy, is
transalated as "murder" or "kill". Ratsach is used only a few times in the OT167, taken
together, we can discern a simple definition of ratsach. It refers to any killing that is done
in the manner either as an angry reaction to stimulus or lying in wait, as one waits for prey.
But there is another word nakah, which is used in the sense of striking168. It does not mean
"to kill," but is given that definition by context alone. In light of the above, the command
"thou shall not kill" would apply to manslaughter, murder, war, capital punishment and
abortion.
This text is not advocating the pro-abortion position. The Hebrew word yeled" is also used
for babies and young children throughout the OT (Gen. 21:8; Ex. 2:3). The pre born is
considered to be just as much a person as any young child. The Hebrew word in this verse
is "yatsa," which actually means to "come out" or "give birth." This word is regularly used
for live birth in the OT. In this passage, it refers to a live, though premature birth. There is
another Hebrew word for miscarriage "shakal", used in Exodus 23:26. This clearly
indicates that there is something besides miscarriage in Exodus 21:22-25.
167
In Judges 20:4, it describes the killing of a woman who was in a house that was beset upon by night by a
gang of evil men. In 1 Kings 21:19, the Lord rhetorically asks Ahab if he has ratsached. This is after Ahab
has concluded a plot to do away with Naboth by having two fellows say they have heard Naboth blaspheme.
(This word also describes Ahab in 2 Kings 6:32.) In Job 24:14, it describes one who in the light sets upon
the poor and the needy, and is a thief at night. In Ps. 62:3, it describes the fate of someone who is not
prepared for what will happen to them, for they have no foundation in God. In Ps. 94:6 it describes the
wicked who kill the widow and the stranger those who are helpless and disoriented. In Prov. 22:13, it
describes something a lion will do to the slothful man. In Hosea. 6:9, it is applied to priests who commit
iniquity, with a comparison to a troop of robbers waiting for someone.
168
For example, in Gen. 19:11, where land is nakahed, defeating or conquering. In Gen. 14:5, 7, where
Abraham nakahs an army

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Life is God given and should never be ended even by oneself before it comes to an end
naturally. Similarly, but more persuasively, the emphasis can be put on the act of taking
life. Life is so precious that to deliberately take life is always wrong. Thus the
commandment in Exodus 20.13, “You shall not murder” is now generally and more
accurately translated: “You shall not (commit) murder.”
The sixth commandment, “You shall not murder” refers to every act of murder: child, wife,
husband, stranger, and self. Since it is scientifically established that the fetus is a human
being, the commandment applies to abortion as well. “You shall not kill” is equivalent to
“You shall not commit abortion.”
In addition, a variety of biblical teachings collectively prohibit abortion. For example, the
fact that every person has value and dignity because he is created in God’s image should
influence our view of abortion. Further, the Bible clearly teaches that men and women in
the act of procreation are co-workers with God in the process of bringing new life into
existence.169 Finally, we find in the Bible that all human life is absolutely unique, precious,
and loved by God. Those who destroy human life are held accountable by God.
2.2. The status of the Unborn.
Throughout the Scripture, personhood is never measured by age, stage of development, or
mental, physical, or social skills. Personhood is endowed by God at the moment of
creation; that moment of creation can be nothing other than the moment of conception. Job
graphically described the way God created him before he was born (Job.10:8-12). To
Isaiah, God says, "This is what the Lord says, He who made you, who formed you in the
womb" (Isaiah. 44:2). Medical understanding and rules on the status of the unborn though
169
Medical rules regarding abortion with in certain days after conceiving vary from country to country.
Situation of mentally retarded women, cases of being raped and conceived for abortion can lead us to a
debate for and against abortion. My concern here is to take the side of anti-abortion interpretation of the
texts.

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various from country to country the following brief chart throws light on the two different
world views in relation to life in the womb:170 The following chart by David Clark in
evaluating the arguments of the quality of life for infanticide sums up these two views as
follows;
Pro- abortion View Anti-abortion view
1 The fetus is protoplasm or tissue; a 1 The fetus is a human being, a living

nonhuman or non-person. person.
2 Naturalistic evolutionary view of 2 Conception and pregnancy are sacred and
conception and gestation; conception and holy; men and women are co-creators with
pregnancy are profane. God in the process of conception. God
molds and fashions the child in the womb.
3 Human life or personhood begins at 3 Life and personhood begin at conception.
viability, birth or some other arbitrary
point.
4 Conception is a process. 4 Conception is the point the sperm and
egg unite.
5 Children are a burden or an 5 Children are a gift from the Lord.
inconvenience.
6 Conceived life is viewed as temporal 6 Conceived life is not merely temporal,
only, based on materialistic but also eternal; the soul exists at
presuppositions; no soul at conception. conception.
7 No image of God. 7 The fetus contains the image of God
Pro-abortionists emphasize the right of the mother while the antiabortionists emphasize the
right of the unborn child. Pro-abortionist view abortion as “little more than a retroactive
contraceptive” and appeal to compassion. The anti-abortionists view abortion as “little less
then the pre-natal infanticide”171 and so make an appeal for justice. James Hoffimeier
states: "Looking at Old Testament law from a proper cultural and historical context, it is
evident that the life of the unborn is put on the same par as the person outside the
170
David K. Clark, “An Evaluation of the Quality of Life Argument for Infanticide,” The Simon Greenleaf
Law Review, Vol. 5 (1985-1986), pp. 93-112.
171
John, R.W. Stott, New issues facing Christians today, Mumbai:Gls,2004, p.349.

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womb."172 When understood as a reference to miscarriage, Exodus 21:22-25,is sometimes
used as evidence that the unborn is subhuman. But a proper understanding of the passage
as noted earlier, shows reference is not to a miscarriage, but to a premature birth. This
means that, "far from justifying permissive abortion, in fact grants the unborn child a status
in the eyes of the law equal to the mother's." 173
Psalm 139:13-16 paints a graphic picture of the intimate involvement of God with a pre-
born person. God created David’s "inmost being" not at birth, but before birth. The
Psalmist is affirming God’s concern in poetical imagery and highly figurative language,
which is illustrated in the potter and the weaver metaphors. In reflecting on this Psalm,
John Stott makes the following summary: “The fetus is neither a growth in the mother’s
body, nor even a potential human being, but already a human life who, through not yet
mature, has the potentiality of growing in to the fullness of the individual humanity he or
she already posses”174 The unborn are regarded as "babies" in the full sense of the term.
God tells Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you" (Jeremiah. 1:5). The
Creator is involved in an intimate knowing relationship not only with born people, but with
unborn people. John Stott draws the implications of this in relation to the New Testament
ascertains that “God chose us in Christ and gave us His grace in Christ before the creation
of the world.” (Ephesians. 1:4, 2 Timothy. 1:9) and concludes as, that is was “ not before
the creation of the worlds but before the birth, before they were yet fully formed, that is,
while they were still being fashioned in the womb” 175.
172
James Hoffmeier,(ed) Abortion: A Christian Understanding and Response, Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Baker Book House, 1987, p. 62.
173
John Jefferson Davis, Abortion and the Christian (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed,
1984), p. 52.
174
John, R.W. Stott, New issues facing Christians today, Mumbai: GLS, 2004, p.356.
175
Ibid, p. 357.

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Meredith Cline observes, "The most significant thing about abortion legislation in Biblical
law is that there is none. It was so unthinkable that an Israelite woman should desire an
176
abortion that there was no need to mention this offense in the criminal code." All that
was necessary to prohibit an abortion was the command, "You shall not murder"(Exodus
20:13)
2.3. Abortion and the Christian Church
Christians throughout church history have affirmed the humanity of the pre-born child.177
Michael Gorman, in Abortion and the Early Church178, states the early church response to
abortion and the researcher makes the following summary. The Epistle of Barnabas speaks
of "killers of the child, who abort the mold of God." It treats the unborn child as any other
human "neighbor" by saying, "You shall love your neighbor more than your own life. You
shall not slay a child by abortion. You shall not kill that which has already been
generated"179.
The Didache, a second-century catechism states, "Do not murder a child by abortion or kill
a newborn infant" (Didache 2.2). Defending Christians before Marcus Aurelius in A.D.
177, Athenagoras argued, "What reason would we have to commit murder when we say
that women who induce abortions are murderers,…? ...The fetus in the womb is a living
being and therefore the object of God's care" (A Plea for the Christians, 35.6).
Tertullian said, "It does not matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one
that is coming to the birth. In both instances, destruction is murder" (Apology, 9.4). Basil
the Great affirmed, "Those who give abortifacients for the destruction of a child conceived
176
Meridith G. Kline, "Lex Talionis and the Human Fetus," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
(September 1977), pp. 193.
177
See George Grant, Grand Illusions: The Legacy of Planned Parenthood (Brentwood, Tennessee:
Wolgelmuth and Hyatt, 1988), pp. 190-191
178
Michael Gorman, Abortion and the Early Church, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1982. In this section the
researcher in his own words is summing up the important reflections of the church on abortion.
179
Epistle of Barnabas 19:5.

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in the womb are murderers themselves, along with those receiving the poisons" (Canons,
188.2). Jerome called abortion "the murder of an unborn child" (Letter to Eustochium,
22.13). Augustine warned against the terrible crime of "the murder of an unborn child" (On
Marriage, 1.17.15). Origen, Cyprian, and Chrysostom were among the many other
prominent theologians and church leaders who condemned abortion as the killing of
children. New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger comments, "It is really remarkable how
uniform and how pronounced was the early Christian opposition to abortion." 180
Throughout the history, Roman Catholic Church has consistently upheld the sanctity of
human life. Modern theologians with a strong biblical point of reference agree that
abortion is the killing of a child. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, argued that abortion is "nothing but
murder." 181 Karl Barth stated,
The unborn child is from the very first a child... it is a man and not a thing, not a
mere part of the mother's body... Those who live by mercy will always be disposed
to practice mercy, especially to a human being which is so dependent on the mercy
of others as the unborn child.182
In the last few decades it has become popular for certain theologians and ministers to be
pro-abortion. The religious alliance for abortion rights, for instance, has adopted the motto,
"Prayerfully Pro-choice," and pro-choice advocates point to it as proof that careful
Christians can be pro-choice. Yet the arguments set forth by such advocates are superficial,
conflicting, and break the most basic principles of biblical interpretation. Their arguments
are clearly read into the biblical texts rather than derived from them. 183
180
Michael Gorman, Abortion and the Early Church, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1982, p. 9.
181
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics, New York: Macmillan, 1955, p. 131.
182
Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, Vol. 3, Geoffrey Bromiley (ed), Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1961, pp. 415,
418
183
An excellent refutation of the various "Christian" prochoice arguments is made by philosophy professor
Francis Beckwith in "A Critical Appraisal of Theological Arguments for Abortion Rights," Bibliotheca Sacra
(July/September 1991), pp. 337-355

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The Catholic Church teaches that “ensoulment” takes place at the moment of conception
and this has been a key reason for their refusal to condone abortion. Another key factor is
“natural law” which Catholics believe shows that the natural consequence of the woman
becoming pregnant is to give birth hence state as,
By the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors, and in
communion with the bishops of the Catholic Church, I confirm that the direct and
voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral. 184
Although Catholics refuse to believe abortion as an acceptable solution to 'unwanted'
pregnancies they do accept that there might be time when an abortion occurs as a result of
trying to deal with medical issue. For example, if the mother needed a life-saving operation
which could potentially terminate the pregnancy, the Catholic Church would allow this
under the “doctrine of double effect”.185 This is because of one’s first intention is the save
the life of the mother rather than terminate the pregnancy.
Many Protestant denominations such as Anglicans, Methodists and Quakers have been
unwilling to take such a hard line as Catholics do in the abortion debate. Often they accept
that there are certain situations when abortion is an unavoidable consequence of deciding
between the 'lesser of two evils'. Thus they generally advocate a form of situation ethics.
There are some Christians who believe the Bible says nothing about abortions. In one
sense this is true. Thus the case for and against abortion is generally a cumulative one.
Christians who seek to argue against abortion on the basis of Scripture use a number of
verses that seem to teach that God knows and plans the life of a person before they are
born.
Christians who argue a pro-abortion position do so by first showing that the Bible does not
specifically teach anything about abortion. They also maintain that the verses those
184
Papal Encyclical 1995.
185
The Doctrine of Double Effect: The idea that if I take an action to achieve one effect knowing that it will
produce another that I cannot be blamed for the second effect occurring

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advocating a pro-life position use to argue against abortion are just specific references to
individual people and situations. They are precise exhortations rather than general
teachings concerning the birth process for all people. This is a problem particularly
connected with taking verses out-of-context with the aim of proving a theological point
(proof-text).
The problem with seeking proof-texts to argue against abortion is particularly acute when
the command 'Do not murder' is used to support an anti-abortion stance. Difficulties arise
when we see that in certain instances God actually commanded the Israelites to kill their
enemies and take possession of their land. Thus 'do not murder' seems to be a relative
command (relative to the situation ethics). Since God is the creator and sustainer of human
life, we should worth and defend the lives of all innocent humans. Human life is unique in
that God created us in His image.
The Bible forbids us from shedding innocent blood. Pre-natal human life is fully human
and thus precious to God.186 To kill babies in the womb in an attempt to avoid suffering is
to try to avoid God’s purposes for suffering. The Bible is clear that in this fallen world,
God ordains suffering for His wise and good purposes (Rom. 8:28). Even if church history
were unclear on the matter, the Bible is very clear. Every child in the womb has been
created by God and He has laid out a plan for each child's life.
186
Consider a few of the many biblical passages:
a. God superintends life in the womb (Ps. 139:13-16). David is affirming in poetic language that God
superintended his formation in the womb (also, Job 10:8-12).
b. The Bible ordains the penalty of life for life when the life of an unborn child is taken (Exod. 21:22-25).
c. The Bible affirms the distinctiveness of individuals in the womb, thus showing that they are fully human.
*Jacob and Esau were distinct individuals in the womb (Gen.25:23; Rom. 9:11-12).
*Samson’s mother was not to drink wine, because her son was to be a Nazirite, who would abstain from
alcohol (Judges 13:3-5).
*Jeremiah and Paul both acknowledged that God formed them in the womb and knew them by name (Jer.
1:5; Gal. 1:15). Isaiah 49:1, 5 affirms the same thing about Messiah.

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3. Biblical perspectives on Infanticide and Euthanasia
What does the Bible say about infanticide and euthanasia? The Bible does give us
principles that apply and provide guidance on the matter of infanticide and euthanasia.
Here the attempt is made to give three biblical principles plus a fourth, which is a logical
conclusion from the three and then to apply those principles broadly to the areas of
infanticide and euthanasia.
The Bible clearly denies that human life is the evolutionary product of chance plus time.
God created the human race as distinct from the animals. To be created in God’s image
means that we have the capability of rational and abstract thought, personality, and moral
choice. While marred by the fall, all human being nonetheless bear the divine image (Gen.
9:6; I Cor. 11:7; James 3:9). The bottom line of this doctrine is that every human being
possesses dignity by virtue of belonging to the human race. Of course, humanists who
deny God and promote evolution deny the teaching that man is created in God’s image.
3.1. God is the giver, sustainer, and receiver of human life.
Human life is a gift from God. In Colossians 1:17, after affirming in verse 16 that Christ
created all things, Paul says that “in Him all things hold together.” God not only gives life
(Psalm. 104), He sustains it. If He chose to “let go,” creation would literally fall apart. And
God not only sustains life, God receives it as He has ordained. Pharaoh, set the midwives
to kill the boys at the child birth but since the midwives feared God they did not do it
(Exodus. 1: 15-17). In Psalm 139:16, the psalmist affirms that all of his days were ordained
by God before he was even born. Job 14:5 states, “Man’s days are determined; you have
decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed” Before Satan
could lay a hand on Job’s children, he had to receive permission from God (Job 1:12). God
specifically prohibited Satan from taking Job’s life (Job.2:6).

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One may be wondering, “What about deformed humans? Is God the author of such lives?”
Various reasons are stated for the deformities by biological scientist environmentalist and
medical doctors. However, if we believe that God is the creator of human beings, we can
say that deformities also allowed by God. For example, Exodus 4:11, God tells Moses,
“Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute, who gives him sight or makes
him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” In John 9, Jesus and His disciples encounter a man born
blind. When the disciples ask the cause of the problem, Jesus replies, “Neither this man nor
his parents sinned”, said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be
displayed in his life” (verse 3). In other words, since the fall of the human race into sin,
God allows the birth of deformed human beings may be due to pollution, health problems,
malnutrition or other unknown reasons to raise our concerns for such apparent tragedy. It
challenges the rest of us to take care of the environment, health and hygiene and minister
to such deformed human beings.
3.2. All human life is precious to God
The Old Testament views children as a reward from God (Psalm. 127:3; I Samuel 1). The
Lord Jesus had a special love for children (Matthew.18:5,6; 19:13-15). The Bible also
teaches that we should respect the elderly. Furthermore, the Old Testament prophets
repeatedly warned those who were rich and powerful and who used their power to oppress
or disregard orphans, widows, the poor, and the disadvantaged (Jer. 22:3; Zech. 7:9-10).
Thus if we claim to follow God, we must especially take a stand in defending those who
are helpless or disadvantaged. Children are dependent and powerless.
3.3. All human life is worthy to live
All human life is worth to life and there is no such thing as a life not worthy of being
lived” The talk about “quality of life” or “wrongful life” is irrelevant. Such as, shall we

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sterilize all people below a certain economic level because their children would probably
suffer a lower quality of life than children of the affluent? Shall we eliminate the
handicapped and the aged for the same reason? The whole quality of life hypothesis has
already moved us from the realm of abortion to infanticide and euthanasia. So the life we
save by fighting the abortion-infanticide-euthanasia movement quite literally may be our
own. Abortion and euthanasia are medical, ethical, theological, legal and missiological
issues. It involves the severity of God and the sanctity of human life. It reflects the biblical
view of human dignity.
In the present study, the analysis of abortion data of the three selected districts reveals that,
the abortion rate has increased from 1971 to 2001, the women have under gone abortion in
their reproductive life and the women may be going for abortion as a method of family
planning. What can we do about infanticide and euthanasia in our country? Can the church
be involved in the pro-life movement and offer support and help to families who resist
letting their child die after birth. There is an urgent need to demonstrate Christian
compassion in such situation, and that often involves work, time, and money.
4. Biblical perspectives on Family
The center of God’s covenant activity is the family. Children are part of the family. Female
infanticide mostly takes place in the family situation. Parenthood is realized in the family.
Hence this section studies the biblical ideals on the family and lay down the principles for
the value of the children, specially the female children. Father, mother, children and
extended relatives play a part in the biblical ideal. Is there a biblical ideal? Is the popular
mental image of the family is a biblical or cultural expression. The scriptural model for
family relationships and responsibilities is both challenging and liberating, placing Jesus

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Christ at the center of the family of God. The biblical perspective of the family lays down
the basic principles on the importance of the children in the family.
4.1. Old Testament perspective on Family
Old Testament Hebrew society was based on families. The families of the patriarchs
(Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) were independent of society around them. The family
consisted of the patriarchs' wives, their children, and their sons' wives and children. The
servants were also included (Gen. 14:14). Jacob's twelve sons became the twelve tribes of
Israel. By the time of the exodus, the tribes had divided into clans, and clans were divided
into families (Exod. 6:14; Num. l:2). The family unit continued to be important throughout
the Old Testament (1 Kings 8:1; 2 Chr. 35:4) even after the exile (Neh. 7:5). This can be
seen by the importance put on family lists of ancestors (1 Chr. 1-8).
The Old Testament often uses the term "house" for family187. Another term that is used in
Hebrew refers to a less relationship such as maid and men servants (Gen 30:7, 10, l2).
However, all such usages do not present much of the elaborate social connotation of the
modern usage of the term ''family". The Old Testament teaching about the family is
embodied in the first chapters of the Torah. The creation of God was in a world-order and
in family-order. In the OT family relationships are concentric.
In the creation of the world order, the ordinance of human family life is set forth (Gen 2:4-
5:1). The male and female in the marriage bond is set down on two levels, the fulfillment
of need for companionship and the sexual relationship for the procreation of the race
(Gen.2:18, 3:20; 4:1, 2).This relationship was not to supersede the relationship to
187
Ruth 4: I 1, I Chronicles 13:14: 2 Chronicles 35:.5, 12, Psalm. 68:6.

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God (Deut. 13:6-10, and the New Testament also says the same Matt 19:29; Luke 14:26).
However, as the covenant people became settled and independent entity the cross cultural
split came upon the family system.
The polygamous marriage appears early in the patriarchal narrative (Gen. 4:19). The
concubine age of a servant girl to her mistress' husband is a specific type of polygamy
widely practiced in the ancient Near East and also recorded in the patriarchal period (Gen.
16:l-4; 30:1-5, 9-13). One result of this was the expansion of the family to include not only
the man and his wife and their children, but also servants and concubines,
The Israelites were encouraged to have large families, for economic as well as social
reasons. The family functioned as a socio religious community, preserving past traditions
and passing them on through instruction and worship. Children, especially sons, were
extraordinarily important in the biblical family. Marriage is actually a covenant between
two families. In the family community the functions and relationships of various members
are defined by custom and law. Sons are of supreme importance in carrying on the family's
name.
Second in importance only to the father in the Hebrew family are sons. Descent is
reckoned through the male, (through a man's sons, for example: genealogies in Ezra 10:18
ff). The longing for sons is therefore understandable. Sons are to be disciplined and
carefully trained in the traditions of the community and in the meaning of wisdom (Deut.
8:5; Prov. 3:12; l3:24; 19:l8; 29:17). A family is not complete with out the children.
Children make their father and the mother to realize their fatherhood and motherhood.
In the chapter that contains the essence of the new covenant the prophet writes of the time
when Yahweh will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be [his] people

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(Jer.31:1). Early Christian writers continue to use this figure to explain the Christians as
comprising “God’s family"(I.Tim. 3:15; I Pet. 4:17).
4.2. New Testament perspective on family
Family (patria) is mentioned as such only three times, although the related idea of “house
or household” (oikos, oikia) is more frequent. The term 'household', where it is not simply
synonymous for 'family', is a unit of society. The gospels abound with allusions to the
household and its character (Mt. 2l:33 ff.). In the Jerusalem church households were
apparently instructed as units (Acts 5:42) and this was also Paul's custom, as he reminded
the Ephesians’ elders (Acts 20:20).
In the New Testament, Christ is not against the family but taught that loyalty to him is
more important than loyalty to one's family (Luke 14:26). In all other cases, Christ and the
apostles taught loyalty and honor the family (Matt. 1919; Mark 7:9-13: John 19:25-27;
Eph.6:t-3: I Tim.5:4). The first loyalty of Christians is to Christ and his people, the family
of God (Luke 8:21; Eph. 2:I9; I Peter 4: l7).
Much of Christ's instruction concerning the family is simply a reiteration of the creation
ordinances with the added responsibility of motivation (Matt 5:27-32). The family as
covenant and the covenant members as a family are two themes repeated in the illustrations
Christ gives (19:13-15). The concept of corporate or "household" salvation certainly is
represented in the gospel narratives. It also is important that some of our Lord's miracles
were concerned with families, their sorrows, and their relationships188. For example the
Lazarus death and resurrection and his sister’s sorrows explains the fact Jesus had a great
importance to the family.
188
Matt 8:l-13, 14, l5; 9:18-26; 15:21-28:' 17:14-20; Mark l:30, 3l; 5:21-43; 7:24-30;9:14-29; Luke 4:38, 39;
7: l-10; 8:40-56; 9:37-43:' John 2:1-11; 4:46-54; 7 :ll-17 ; ll:l-46; 2l: 6-ll.

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The concept of the family was so easily extended that the apostles apparently used it in
their preaching to describe the Church of Christ. Specific instructions concerning the
family are given in terms of husband and wife189.
The relation of children to parents is far less prominent than in the OT190. In the three
Johannine epistles the figure of the child is brought to fulfillment with the repetition of the
apostolic love for the Church in terms of family (1 John 3:10). The legal position of
children, inheritance, adoption, illegitimacy and naming all are used as figures of the
application of the atonement in the epistles191. The fact that the first churches were in
private homes gave a specific character to the family image of Christianity (Acts 16:31.).
The love of Christ for the church is stated as the love of a husband to his wife. This image
of bridegroom and the bride is used in the final apocalyptic vision of the new Jerusalem
(Rev.18:23, 21:2,9; 22:17).
5. Biblical Perspectives on Mission
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the Bible mandates that the ministry to the
whole person. This means addressing both physical and spiritual needs through approaches
that are inseparably linked but functionally separate. We see this idea in the three distinct
forms of ministry common in the Old Testament roles of judge, prophet, and priest.
In the New Testament, Jesus determined the nature and type of his ministry in accordance
with contextual factors. He engaged primarily in preaching and theological discourses
when ministering to members of the upper classes such as Sadducees, Pharisees, tax
collectors, and scribes. His work with the masses, on the other hand, included not only
preaching and teaching but also healing and feeding. And in still other contexts, his
ministry was primarily one of healing. In all these cases, the nature of the needs and the
189
l Cor 7:l-28; ll:3;Eph 5:22; Col 3:18; I Tim 5:8; I Pet 3:17.
190
Rom 1:30; 2 Tim 3:2 and the exhortations of Eph 6:1-4; Col 3:20, and I Tim 4:12.
191
Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5; Phil 4:3; Heb l2:8, I Pet l : 4 .

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audience were factors determining His emphasis. In sending forth the twelve into a
preaching and healing mission, described in Matthew 10, Jesus instructed the disciples that
the nature of the people’s receptivity to them should guide their movements. The principle
operating here may be called "contextual holism."
The principle of contextual holism also determined the character of the early Church’s
thrust and priorities. In the immediate aftermath of Pentecost, the Church carried out its
ministry in terms of preaching, teaching, healing, and sharing, as illustrated in the book of
Acts. As long as the Church remained predominantly Jewish, it expressed its faith and life
largely in the traditional Jewish context and continued such practices as worshipping in the
temple and practicing circumcision. When the Church moved into the Gentile world, the
new context called for different expressions of faith and life, as is well known in Paul’s
strategy with the Gentiles.
New Testament affirms the holistic ministry concept. Jesus’ ministry embodied the idea of
welding evangelism with social concerns. The apostle Paul’s teaching and the life of the
early Church continued the theme. Matthew 4:23 says, "Jesus went throughout Galilee,
teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every
disease and sickness among the people." Though teaching, preaching, and healing were
separate functions, they were all essential to the total ministry of Jesus. This is the case
today with the body of Christ the Church.
In Romans and Ephesians, Paul said that this body consists of diverse members, each with
his or her own function, all working together as a single unit. "Just as each of us has one
body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in
Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others" (Rom
12:4, 5). Paul reiterated this theme in Ephesians 4:11-13, writing, "It was [God] who gave

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some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and
teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be
built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and
become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness.”
Christianity indeed is holistic. True Christian’s care and minister to the needs of the whole
person. Jesus commanded it when he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." The early
church demonstrated it when they sent relief to the Jerusalem saints. Paul enjoined it when
he wrote, "Do good to all men, especially those of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10).
True Christians, including Christian missionaries have regularly practiced it for centuries.
That should settle it. Christianity is "holistic."
It follows that, if the term "holistic" is to be maintained in the context of mission, it
requires redefinition in line with Great Commission commands and goals of Christ. The
chronicles of the first century Church recorded in Acts (for example chapter. 6) show that
the early Christians understood and lived out the notion of holistic ministry. They were
engaged both in proclaiming the good news (evangelism) and in meeting each other’s
needs (social concerns).
The local church should provide a context for compassionate social service. In the New
Testament, the local church became a training ground for social concerns (Acts 2:45, 4:34).
Meeting the needs of the poor, the infirm, the elderly, the widows is a responsibility of the
church. Ministries to these groups can provide a foundation and a catalyst for further
outreach and ministry to the community at large.
Christians have a responsibility to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world
(Matthew 5:13-16). In our needy society, we have abundant opportunities to preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ and meet significant social needs. By combining these two areas of

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preaching and ministry, Christians can make a strategic difference in society. Integral
mission or holistic transformation is the proclamation and expression of the gospel. It is
not simply that evangelism and social involvement are to be done alongside each other.
Rather, in integral mission our proclamation has social cost as we call people to love and
repentance in all areas of life. And our social involvement has evangelistic cost as we bear
witness to the transforming grace of Jesus Christ. If we ignore the world we betray the
word of God which sends us out to serve the world. If we ignore the word of God we have
nothing to bring to the world. As in the life of Jesus, being, doing and saying are at the
heart of our integral task. In the light of the biblical understanding on holistic ministry the
attempt is made now to evaluate the contributions of the mission to the child care ministry
in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu.
Summary
The biblical account of creation affirms the human beings are precious to God and there is
no distinction of high or low and partiality between male and female. There is no room for
abortion, infanticide and euthanasia in the scripture. God’s convent activity is centered on
the family. Children are gift and blessing from God. The biblical mission is holistic.
In applying these principles in specific situations (infanticide) one can rightly conclude
1. All infanticide is wrong
The biblical perspectives of creation clearly states that all human beings, male and female,
are made in the image of God. Further, God is the giver, sustainer, and receiver of human
life and all human life is precious to God especially the lives of children. Since God is the
creator, sustainer and receiver of human life, we should value and protect the lives of all
innocent humans especially the lives of the female children.

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Human life is unique in that God created us in His image; therefore all infanticide is
wrong. All human life is worthy to live. The Bible forbids us from shedding innocent
blood. Pre-natal human life is fully human and thus precious to God. To view babies as
inconvenient to the point of killing them is to violate Jesus’ view of children. To kill babies
in the womb in an attempt to avoid suffering is to try to dodge God’s purposes for
suffering.
The biblical perspective of abortion clearly states the fact that the unborn are regards as
babies in the full sense and one should very serious take the sixth commandments “Thou
shall not murder” and it is equivalent to say thou shall not commit abortion. The teachings
of the church also affirms the same, hence it is right to conclude that all infanticide is
wrong.
2. All active euthanasia is wrong
By active euthanasia, I mean directly killing a human being whether through drugs or
through withholding proper food and water. Sometimes doctors refer to the withholding of
food and water as passive euthanasia, but it is not passive. Human life is a sacred
continuous process from conception, through pregnancy, birth, growth, to adulthood and
on to natural (or accidental) death. To deliberately destroy an innocent human being at any
point after conception is, in God’s eyes, a wrongful killing (the biblical exception covering
justified killings are strictly limited).
Therefore "discarding" spare embryos, terminating a pregnancy by dismembering or
poisoning or prematurely inducing the delivery of a fetus, starving the newborn
handicapped or deformed child to death (or giving a lethal dose of a powerful drug to end
the earthly life of an elderly or incurably diseased person) are all prohibited by the teaching
of the Bible. They are all acts that intentionally destroy innocent human life, and such acts

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are forbidden by the sixth commandment. Christians therefore oppose abortion, embryo
disposal, infanticide (and euthanasia).
3. All passive Euthanasia is wrong
Passive euthanasia refers to allowing a person to die by withholding or discontinuing
treatment that would prolong life. Sometimes, of course, this is the right thing to do. We
must be careful as Christians not to allow ourselves to be drawn into accepting euthanasia
on the supposed grounds of compassion. Every decision to draw the line on what seems to
be further useless treatment should remain a difficult one.
Whenever abortion and other immoral life-threatening practices present themselves, will
the church have an obligation to address these evils in public forums and to seek legislative
and judicial redress? This may call the church to resolve to resist the degradation of
human life, whether by abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, or questionable biomedical
research and experimentation. The church, rooted in the eternal truths of God’s word,
should seek to lift the standards of society by overcoming evil with good. The recent
development on exploring the possibility of child theology and integrating it in the
theological curriculum is to be welcomed.192
Christians may actively support candidates who embrace the sanctity of life and should
involve protecting the unborn, the handicapped, and the aged, all of whom are endangered
by a societal cheapening of life. Can the church work through legislative and governmental
agencies to insure appropriate ethical review of all biomedical research and to impose
constraints on that which is evil or misguided? Will the mission of the church counsel
those with unwanted pregnancies about alternatives to abortion, such as adoption and
192
J.B. Jeyaraj, “Child Theoogy: An emerging Theology for Child Development” Hindustan Evangelical
Review- Journel of Missiologial Refelction, Vol.I, Jan-Dec 2006, pp.156-158.

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generously support responsible Christian adoption agencies with their prayers, finances,
and time as well as facilitate placement of unwanted babies in loving Christian homes.
The church may compassionately minister those who suffer remorse and guilt from having
had abortions, or participated in abortions and other life-destroying activity or research,
reminding them of these words of Jesus: “whoever comes to me I will never drive away”
(John 6:37). The call to action includes the repentance to the commitment of human life,
accept full responsibility for the effects of a strict abortion policy, and support a positive
educational and social campaign. The sociological findings on female infanticide and the
Biblical insights needs to be viewed with in the contributions of missions to care of the
children in the area of study. Therefore, the final chapter traces the mission’s contributions
of the mission to the child care development in Salem, Dharmapri and Madurai districts of
Tamilnadu.

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Chapter X
The Contributions of the Missions for the Care of the Children in Salem Dharmapuri
and Madurai Districts of Tamilnadu.
People enter God’s kingdom by hearing and responding to the good news of Jesus. This
leads to a right relationship with God. However, that relationship has to be lived out
otherwise there is no point in entering it. Evangelism, therefore, cannot be an end in itself.
Indeed, the relationship of evangelism to social action is like a door leading into a house.
To suggest that one could choose evangelism and ignore social action is like suggesting
one could enter a house without being subject to its shape and boundaries. The reality
expected of Christians is that evangelism will lead to true discipleship of Christ which
demands commitments to be involved in the mission of God.
This chapter will trace the contributions of the Christian missions to the childcare ministry
in Madurai, Salem and Dharmapuri districts of Tamilnadu. Then present the components in
mission in developing appropriate misisological theory for relevant and meaningful
partnership for holistic mission to the challenges of female infanticide.
1. The contributions of the Christian Mission to the child care in Salem, Dharmapuri
and Madurai, Districts of Tamilnadu
1.1. London Mission society (LMS) Mission in Salem and Dharmapuri Districts
The London Mission Society (LMS) worked in Salem, Attur, Coimbatore, and Erode
districts of Tamilnadu. This area covered by the mission work was called the Tamil
Field193. The LMS work in the “Tamil Field” 194 covered an area of about 120 miles long
by 50 miles broad. It stretched from North and East of Salem, through Erode and to
Coimbatore, in the South-West, at the foot of the Nilgiris.

193
F.J. Balasundaram, The Dalits and the Christian Mission in the Tamil Country, p.106. for the history of
the LMS mission kindly refer Church History references such as C.B. Firth, History of Christianity in India.
194
LMS:Report of the Deputation to India 1922-23”, p.25.

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LMS began its work in the Tamil field first in Salem in 1827.195 Missionaries like Lechler,
W.J. Hatch, T.C. Whitney, and others worked in this area. Mission work at Attur began as
an extension of the Salem mission work. LMS mission work was mainly with the Kuravas
people group. The work among Kuravas was a special work done by the LMS Christians,
and Erode became a residential head station only in 1902.196
LMS defined their mission as primarily proclaiming the gospel and secondarily
transforming the society and mostly related their work among the “Dalits” in the Tamil
field. Goodall, LMS India Foreign Secretary, referring to Tamil field reports:
Numerically by far the greater portion of the Christian community within the
Society's areas was drawn from the outcastes ... As in all the other Mass
Movement areas, this situation was characteristic of a rural rather than urban
population and the communities involved were Depressed Classes. 197
G.E. Phillips, like Goodall, was also India Foreign Secretary and, referring to the LMS
related Christians in the Tamil Field states: "In both our Tamil and Telugu Fields, the
Christian Community is drawn largely from the outcastes, who are educationally
backward."198 Mission Reports from 1831 to 1851, which make references to converts,
simply say that people who converted were "heathen." The report for 1852, for the first
time, clearly states that women who studied in Mission Schools at Salem were derided as
"Pariahs who wear no jewels".199 The converts who thus related themselves with LMS
Churches were very poor, and were in an oppressed condition. Franklin sums up the status
of the people as, “Some were cobblers, and some like Kuravars, had robbery as their
traditional way of life and all were in a socially degraded, educationally ignorant,
195
T.C.Whitney, A Hundred years of Salem Mission History”, p.1.
196
“LMS; Mission report 1919”, p.91.
197
LMS:Report of the Deputation to India 1922-23”, p.27.
198
G.E. Philips, The Ancient Church and Modern India, p.110 see also G.E.Philips, “Secretarial report
September 1933-Apripl 1934”, p.58.
199
LMS: Mission report 1852, p.95.

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religiously superstitious, politically powerless and a morally and culturally backward
condition. They were virtual slaves and outcastes. They lived in a state in which they had
no sense of self-respect or personhood”200.
In the beginning of the 19th century, the LMS Missionary Lechler, who worked at Salem,
was interested in raising the status of the Christians in the society by teaching them car-
pentry and brick-laying. The early missionaries went about establishing schools for the
Paraiahs. Thus the mission addressed the value of female children and lifting the status of
the people in the society and they did all that they could to remove caste prejudices. By
imparting education, the LMS Christians wanted to socially elevate the Christians. The
LMS Christians attacked the caste system not only because it distorted the true humanity
of the outcastes, but also because it disrupted the unity within the Christian community.
LMS has made significant contributions in the educational development in Salem district.
However their focus on the child care ministry and boarding homes for the children were
limited to the primary level education and only in urban pockets of the district. Their main
focus was lifting the social status of the pariyaha and kurawa people groups. LMS mission
pioneered the cause of education in the district. Though the LMS mission have failed in
their child care work, present educational institutions such as CSI High school, CSI teacher
training institute and Anderson school are the result of their hard labour. These educational
institutions are still contributing to the development of the children and especially the
teacher training school has made significant contribution to the educational development
for female children. The boarding schools established by the mission extended very little
service to the rural people and mostly cared for the dalits.
200
F.J. Balasundaram, The Dalits and the Christian Mission in the Tamil Country, p.111

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1.2. Diocesan Missionary Prayer Band (DMPB) mission in Salem and Dharmapuri
Districts
Church of South India (CSI) was formed on the 27th of September 1947. During this
period Kanyakumari was a part of Travancore Diocese. In 1959 Kanyakumari Diocese
was formed. Kanyakumari District was evangelized by the London Missionary Society
since 1806, with the hard work of William Tobias, Ringel Toube and Maharasan Veda
Manickam (the first convert). A group of local missionaries came together in 1959 at
Kariavilai CSI Church and started to pray to find ways and means of mission work among
the tribal.201
This small beginning inspired the people, and the presbyters of Kanyakumari Diocese,
prayer groups were formed in different churches of Kanyakumari Diocese. In 1962 July
the group was christened “Malai Nattu Suvisesa Jebakuzhu” which means “Hill Tribes
Gospel Prayer Group”, later as “Diocesan Missionary Prayer Band” DMPB. In 1964 the
prayer groups were brought under the administrative jurisdiction of the Kanyakumari
Diocese. The Church board recognized the organization as indigenous mission of
Kanyakumari Diocese202.
Kolli hills, Pachamalai hills, Yercaud hills, and Kalrayan hills, are some of the hills of the
Eastern Ghats spread in Salem, Dharmapuri and Namakal districts of Tamilnadu. The
tribals of these areas call themselves as “Goundas”. But the Government has recognized
them as “Malayalis” which means inhabitants of the hills. They speak Tamil and are
backward in all aspects socially, economically and educationally. Due to lack of education
and health care they have been suffering very much and die of Malaria, Typhoid,
Tuberculosis, and Cholera. These people have been slowly brought to light, mainly by the
201
C. Rajamani, “Indigenous Christian Movements in India Kanyakumari Diocesan Missionary Prayer Band
Mission to the Tribals of Tamilnadu” p.263.
202
Ibid. p.264.

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services of the Christian organizations and now also to some extent by the services of the
Government.
The DMPB mission work spread in the hills of Kalrayan, Servarayan, Green, Kolli and
Yercaud hills in the Revenue Districts of South and North Arcot, Salem and Coimbatore
Districts of Tamilnadu. DMPB basically defined mission as proclamation and also
concentrated education as preparation to evangelism and their method was mostly living
with the people and participating in their sufferings.
The early DMPB missionaries offered their services to eradicate the superstitions. Mainly
during their menstruation women were kept away from the house for five days and kept in
an open place under the trees. Missionaries built new huts for the women to stay in during
those days. Slowly they educated the women folk and eradicated this superstition. During
illnesses, children were touched by burning iron rods thinking that the illness was due to
the devil. Through education this superstitious practice was also eradicated. Another evil
was addiction to alcohol. In the hill, the people prepared alcohol for earning their
livelihood. In reality, they were oppressed and destroying themselves by drinking from
dawn to dusk. Slowly this evil also started declining. In the hills they cultivated heroine
and ganja but the impact of the DMPB mission by providing jobs and income-generating
projects has brought transformation in the society.
Rajamani remarks on the condition of the DMPB mission field as, ‘the teachers had to
walk at least 20 to 35 miles to the school. No teacher was residing in the hills”203. Hence
the need came to start schools by the mission, trained teachers were selected as
missionaries and started schools under the tree shade near the mission field. The
203
Ibid, p.266.

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educational mission has helped the people to realize their potentials and be useful to the
society.
The mission also started the medical service in 1977. Serapattu mission station in Salem
District now has five medical missionaries including one M.B.B.S. doctor in three
hospitals and two small clinics. The mission hospital provides basic health care and also
addresses the challenges of female infanticide and HIV/AIDS in the society.
Now the mission work in Salem district is in progress with 148 missionaries in 88 centers,
39 teachers in 7 schools, 7 medical missionaries in 3 hospitals, tribal boys and girls are
brought up in 24 houses. 204 Through the DMPB Mission, people’s lives have been
benefited socially and spiritually. Weaker sections have come to realize their human rights
and worth. Improvements in life style, medical aid, education and new spirituality have
come to many. The mission made people aware of their rights and human dignity.
Neglected children were admitted in the mission homes. Women students are now getting
medical training to serve their community.
However, the impact of the mission work has not made any improvement in the 2001 sense
report of the Salem district. Though sex ratio of all age group in Salem district has
increased from 925 in 1991 to 929 in 2001, the 0-6 age group sex ration has declaimed
from 849 in 1991 to 826 in 2001.205 This reveals the fact that the child care ministry is a
relevant challenge in the mission of the church. The mission contributions to the care of
the children are remarkable, though they have not made any direct impact to the challenges
204
Ibid, p.267.
205
Refer the table in the appendix for more details on the sex ratio in the state.

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1.3. Christian Mission to the Kallar people group in Madurai District
The Thevars are known by names like Kallar, Agamudiar, Maravan, and Velaiyan. They
emerged as one of the powerful politically active castes in recent times. They constitute
about 25% of the people of Tamilnadu. One of the criminal castes in Tamilnadu is Kallar,
meaning thieves. In some places they are called Thevars.206 They consider themselves
Kallar, not Harijans.207 According to their own traditions they were formerly soldiers who
with the cessation of the wars were disbanded and had to find other employment. The Kallar
were farmers and lead a fairly sedentary life. Some of them acted as watchmen or carried
paddy from village to village for sale as supplementary occupations. They collect kudi-kaval
from villages if the village wanted to be exempted from robbery.208 Women seldom join in
crimes, but assist men in their dealings (for disposal of the stolen property) with the
chettiars.
The Kaller people group usually live in closed settlements, each settlement is inhabited by
kinsmen. The settlement is also a cultic unit having specified gods and shrines. An empty
space in the center of the hamlet is reserved for communal meetings and panchayat
activities. Matters of caste discipline, cases of litigation, disputes and quarrels are all
discussed here either by the caste council or by the whole male community. The Kallar are
divided into a number of endogamous sub-divisions. They have no clan system.209 The
Kallar people group worships the local Hindu gods though they have preserved the
worship of their own village and ancestry deities. The Kallar eat meat except beef and
drink liquor. They allow widow marriage and divorce. The marriage ties are rather loose.
206
D.A. Jeyakumar, Mass Movements Amoung the Nadars of Tirunelvelli, p.4.
207
Vasantharaj Albert, Christianity Among the Thevars” in F. Hrangkuma (ed) Christianity In India: Search
For Librartion and Identity, p.92.
208
Ibid, p.92.
209
Ibid. p.93.

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Usually marriage is between close relatives. Jallikattu (bull fight) is one of the methods of
choosing the bride.
The “Madura Mission” was the earliest to reach this people group in the seventeenth cen-
tury. Their efforts did not result in any significant conversion. Then, in the early part of the
nineteenth century, missionaries of Church Missionaries Society made some attempts.
There are some small churches with valuable property belonging to the Brethren Mission
who had worked among the Thevars in Thevarkulam area.210 Mission effort was not big
but the beginning of the movement was significant.
In the last century, circumstances for the entry of the gospel into Kallar community were
favorable. Many in the Kallar community owned land, but a vast majority either had only a
small piece or none at all. The rich exploited the landless. There were very few, among
them, who were literate. New feudal system broke the traditional norms and became a tool
in the hands of a few to exploit the weaker section. In this context, (CMS) the Church
Missionary Society opened their mission station211. Castes and tribes responded to the
evangelistic efforts of churches and missions when missions were willing and able to help
them in their community problems. People movement among the Thevars of Thevarkulam
and other villages did not develop into its full potential and slowed. This small movement
in the remote part of the country is not properly documented.
Vasantharaj remarks on the the mission work:
The missionaries found it difficult to establish relationship with the community

and the only CMS missionary who stayed had to leave for England due to serious
health problems and never came back. In addition, CMS missionaries like
Rhenius and others stayed only a few days for their evangelistic efforts.
Velliappan Thevar who spear-headed the movement did not go beyond the web
of his blood relations. Churches are not seen as institutions belonging to villages.
210
Ibid, p.93.
211
Ibid, p.94.

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Becoming Christians is considered as leaving their traditional religion, and

deserting the community.212
He further comments that, lack of vision, failure to develop leaders and imposed structures
by the mission further damaged the work.213
Only two missions, CMS and Brethren were on the scene. Today the increasing effort is
from the charismatic churches. They are a result of the renewal movement among the
existing CSI churches. One of the greatest failures of the mission in the past as well as at
the present is the domination of the mission over the church. The New Testament pattern
of keeping the church at the center of the activity needs to be emphasized. Church is both
the goal and the agent of evangelism. New converts are the most effective communicators
of the gospel to their non-Christian relatives. Each church, in developing people movement
should look for the opportunities to spread the gospel through relationship.
Christian missions in Salem, Daharmapuri and Madurai districts were significantly
involved in social concerns in the ministry. Many of the social movements of the time
were often lead by Christians. Unfortunately, conservative Christians lost this vision for
social concerns for most of the twentieth century. Fundamentalists emphasized evangelism
and personal piety often to the exclusion of social concerns. For decades, evangelical
Christians have assumed that their theology excludes any significant emphasis on social
ethics and believe that preaching the gospel is their primary task.
Missionaries though have not addressed the challenges of the female infanticide in these
districts, understood the importance of developing a comprehensive view to reach a
culture. Christians who desire to reach a society must give due attention to the social
circumstances of that society.
212
Ibid, p.96.
213
Ibid, p. 99-101

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Evangelical Christians sometimes resist focusing on the social and political circumstances
of a society because they believe that social and political involvement is a worldly activity.
The Self Respect Movement in the state is rooted and fostered in these regions could have
been a possible arena for partnership in mission to promote the self respect for the children.
The LMS, CMS and DMPB and other independent mission societies of these regions
neglected such involvements earlier and reluctant to such openness and the present context
calls for a special attention to explore such partnership in mission.
The mission that involved in the development of the children ware concerned about the
result of the problem in the society than addressing the root of the evils in the society. As
stated earlier, the mission that were running baby rescue homes and orphanages were
indirectly promoted the neglect of the female children.
2. Mission of the Church for the Children at the risk of Female Infanticide
The news of female infanticide in Tamilnadu struck the media in the early eighties and it
created a pandemonium. Nearly twenty five years later the evil still persists to a noticeable
extent. One issue that is disturbing in the way in which this is handled by the State is that
most often it is the woman, mother or grand mother who ends up bearing the penalty for it.
This raises several fundamental issues for reflection. Are we punishing the victims of
patriarchy rather than its perpetrators? Does the woman kill the female babies, to ensure
their own survival in their marital homes? Should not the State have launched a massive
education to publicize the basic biological reality that it is the chromosomes of the father,
not of the mother that determines the sex of the baby? Given the reality of rural India still
under patriarchy, is it realistic to penalize its victims for not standing up to it?
The church can be formed to fight sin at every level, to fear no judgment bar except the
judgment bar of God and to invest time, treasure, and talent as custodial responsibilities

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and hence accountability to God. They must then affirm Jesus Christ as the Absolute, and
thus transcend all social and cultural limitations, use the categories of the gospel to address
society with radical claims and use the insight of born-again sociologists to go to the root-
cause of the symptoms of sickness in society and then fight it. This will not only unite the
church into action but will lend credibility with the poor. They must communicate at every
level, in all contexts, within the broadside relationship in the society. Thus the church,
without dividing the body of Jesus Christ, will utilize creatively the sociological diversities
within one Indian Christian community to communicate with the diversities of the non-
church human communities around her without further accentuating the diabolical
diversity already existing within it.
There is an urgent need for close co-operation between the churches and the para-church
organizations involved both in the evangelization and humanization mission. All churches
and agencies should emphasize this co-operation. The para-church organization must
establish a rapport and a relationship for nurture and care with the local churches before
beginning its ministry. Co-operation between church and agencies must be encouraged in
the use of personnel and facilities. The partnership mission should lead in the prophetic
task of engaging with culture.
God is creator of all. All are made in God’s image. Thus all are of equal worth, and the
worth of persons has to be achieved socially. How do we make our planet a global family
of equal brothers and sisters? What might be an agenda for a prophetic people to address in
relation to the evils of female infanticide? It is by creating a culture of nonviolence and
respect for the worth of all persons. The mission of the church needs to be accountable to
the poor and oppressed. It is by the commitment to a life of truthfulness we are called to
reveal and speak the truth, not only of the gospel but of poverty, oppression, and evils like

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female infanticide and violence. It is by developing a culture of equal rights and
partnership between men and women.
There are deep roots in our religious tradition about equal rights and partnership between
men and women. In the ministry of Jesus we see women raised up from their oppression,
talked with as equals. Paul grasped the implications of baptism into Christ as follows: “As
many of you as were baptized into Christ…there no longer slave or free, there is no longer
male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians. 3: 27-28).We still have
some way to go in terms of fully developing a culture of equal rights and partnership
between men and women.
There are two kinds of prophets: true prophets and false prophets. False prophets hide the
injustices and oppression of the status quo; protect the rich and the powerful. The true
prophet speaks the truth fearlessly and confronts the culture with the living word of God.
There is a cost to this prophetic confrontation with our own culture. It is a way that
requires courage. The transformation of our culture is the first step to transforming the
world.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) had given a clarion call to mark this decade as the
“Decade to Overcome Violence 2001-2010”. The ecumenical decade of the churches in
solidarity with women, emphasized firmly the elimination of violence in various forms
(sexual, religious, psychological, structural, physical, spiritual, military) and the culture of
violence especially as they affect the life and dignity of women. Female infanticide is a
cultural, social and economic violence on women. In this decade, the churches are called to
discover anew the meaning of sharing a common humanity, to confirm our commitment to
the unity of all God's people and to the ministry of reconciliation. It calls us to work

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together for a world of peace with local communities, secular movements, and people of
other faiths.
2.1. Mission as protecting and healing the victims of female infanticide
The theological basis for the response is that women, men and children are created in the
image of God. God loves, calls, anoints and uses all people regardless of gender and age
discrimination for God's service. Spiritual gifts are bestowed equally upon women, men,
youth and children as the Spirit wills. The Church can play a crucial role in bringing
healing and wholeness to the injured women (fear, low status, and living with guilty
feelings due to the practice of female infanticide). It would seem appropriate for the church
to create awareness among local clergy and laity about the different forms of abuse in their
own local contexts. Pastors can plan giving sermons and creating learning experiences to
reflect questions of violence in all Christian education event of the Church. The Church
can have organizing workshops for men and women to collectively identify all kinds of
violence, to explore their root causes and to take steps to eliminate them. The Church can
create a secure space for women to discuss their experiences, enable the victims of
violence to find refuge to seek sustainable solutions, form a Committee to monitor
violence in the media, design methods of protest actions, and call for changes in laws,
traditions and practices that discriminate against women and become a force for
transformation.
The mission of the church, in its different forms and aspects, aims at transformation,
reconciliation and empowerment in and of the world. On the one hand, the whole church,
participates in mission. As the church practices mission as a community, and not only as
isolated individual congregations or churches, solidarity and partnership in mission will
develop and competition and wasteful duplications will cease. Since mission must be

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contextual for the faith to be rooted in people’s real life experience, every church assumes
primary responsibility for mission in its immediate locality and region. However, because
of the apostolicity and catholicity of the church, proximity does not mean ownership.
Christians from different parts of the world may receive a call to share mission
responsibility with another church. Given the increasing complexity of today’s contexts of
mission, partnership in mission is more crucial than ever before.
The church as a healing community has been endowed with various spiritual gifts for the
healing of persons. Medical hospitals, clinics and emergency medical help are means
through which the church has shown the mission of love and empowerment. One of the
challenging tasks of the church in Tamilnadu in the present day is to address the complex
issue of HIV/AIDS and female infanticide.
The Christian response to the practice of female infanticide is a demonstration to God’s
‘Redemption’ for all victims of such evil. For God’s faithful servants and active agents of
renewal to transform the fallen practices into God’s intended Kingdom (Luke 4:17-19).
Christians214 are called to bring justice to this fallen world, to be the voice of the voiceless,
to defend the defenseless, to rescue the victims, to protect and help the vulnerable on one
side, and to intervene wisely against the oppressors and rebuke them, on the other side,
whenever and wherever such fallen practices of oppression take place. The mission of the
church in healing and protecting the victims of the female infanticide need to be engaged
in effective presence, defending the rights, care and active participation for the victims.
2.2. Mission as effective presence to the victims of female infanticide
Christians are called to be good shepherds (John 10:11-13). ‘Good’ refers to how faithful
and steadfast Christians should be in reaching out and desire to rescue and serve the
214
Throughout this section, the term, ‘Christians’, will refer to Christians individuals, communities and
organizations. ‘Christian organizations’ will refer to Christian churches, civil society, and NGOs.

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victimized and unprotected groups, whose ability to defend themselves has been
diminished significantly as a result of societal fallen and oppressive norms, beliefs, rules,
and practices. Individuals and organizations with a strong call to serve God will be able to
put up with those harsh and risky environments, trusting in God and living in faith215.
Transforming such fallen practices and building civil societies with that deep sense of
purpose should be among the prized tasks of Christian interventions, including Christian
NGOs, who are motivated to stay in, mostly focused on the interests of the family of the
female infanticide victims.
Effective presence of Christian organizations is crucial, especially in the dreadful
environment. Further, the lack of basic infrastructure makes it difficult for government
officials to stay, protect, or oversee their tasks of rescuing or helping the target groups.
2.3. Mission as defending the rights of the victims of female infanticide
Christians are called to act on behalf victims, speaking up for them, intervening to rescue
and help them, and develop their communities (Proverbs 31:8-9). Typically, female
infanticide practices bring about cruel punishments to victims in their families and in the
society. As a result, genuine intervention must speak up for these voiceless victims. The
verses call on Christians, individuals and organizations, to look for, and identify those
'voiceless' victims, since the voiceless are too weary. In a fallen world, only people who
can voice their complaints can be heard and attended to.
Consequently, effective interventions should reach out, search for, and be aware of these
'voiceless' victims, to be able to speak up for them, and intervene on their behalf. The
Biblical call demand effective presence in communities where oppressive practices that
silence the victims take place.
215
For more information on Pastoral Model in ministry kindly refer, JB Jeyaraj, Christian Ministry: Models
of ministry and training, p.200-211.

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2.4. Mission as caring for the victims of female infanticide
Christians are called to step in and care about justice for the poor. The poor were alienated
by the act of others who aim to gain at their expense and suffering. Yet, we alienate them
further, or we are alienating ourselves further from them by our apathy or passive
intervention. Thus, effective participation in providing justice for the poor must be integral
to our care. Christians should demonstrate their care for the causes of the poor by acting as
effective second sources (to provide rehabilitation to rescued victims, information,
education, legal support, employment, financial support and loans) to them. Besides, if
permitted, Christian organizations should intervene directly, or in partnership with other
interest groups and second sources (Christian and non-Christian organizations, including
NGOs) that care about the well-being of the poor and have an effective record in helping
the victims, reducing their vulnerability, and developing their communities.
2.5. Mission as active participation for the victims of female infanticide
Seeking justice, encouraging the oppressed (or rebuking the oppressors), defending the
cause of the fatherless, and pleading the case of the widow, are God’s clear command for
active participation and for Christians to intervene, as active agents of renewal, on behalf
of the actual victims and the vulnerable on one side, and against the oppressors on the
other side (Isaiah, 1:17). Effective rebuke of oppressors should include interventions to
deter female infanticide practices, expose the collaborators, and press for effective police
presence and judicial procedures against the oppressors, until such practices are
abandoned.
A Christian perspective and interventions should address the female infanticide practices,
and respond to such causes and symptoms, for the purpose of transforming such practices
and redeeming the victims. First, Christians should express special care for the victims as

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our neighbors, regardless of the geographic, national, or cultural barriers. Second,
Christian interventions should be watchful and to intervene wisely. Third, Christians are
called to search for and identify the victims and the vulnerable who are typically voiceless
and defenseless. Fourth, Christian intervention should reflect the role of Christians as
faithful servants in term of persistent presence, and call to serve the interests of the victims
as reliable second sources and interest groups, despite the harsh environment and the risk
involved. Effective Christian presence and intervention should take place even in a hostile
environment. Fifth, Christians should not hesitate to act against the oppressors, void their
schemes, directly, or indirectly, as watchdog, informing and cooperating with authorities
and other interested organizations to prosecute them and to prevent/preempt further
oppressive schemes. Sixth, Christian intervention should be ongoing, to outlast the
perpetrators and their schemes and to gain the trust of the victims. And seventh, Christian
organizations should learn from the expertise, and successful records, of other
organizations, and coordinate with them, whenever deemed appropriate, to assure effective
interventions, by complementing existing organizations’ intervention and using available
resource wisely. Christian perspectives supported by a Biblical foundation provide
significant guidance regarding the role of Christians and Christian organizations in
rescuing female infanticide victims, reducing their vulnerability, and empowering them.
The church at every level is called to discern the needs for transformation, reconciliation
and empowerment. In doing such analysis, the church will be called to stand with the
victims of female infanticide. Is mission a real praxis of faith, aimed at effecting
transformation, reconciliation and empowerment in society, or is it simply practices? Since
in all societies’ discrimination on the basis of sex often starts at the earliest stages of life,

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greater equality for the girl child is a necessary first step in ensuring that women realize
their full potential and become equal partners in development.
Hence the mission needs to consider the following objectives: (a) To eliminate all forms
of discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of son preference, which results
in harmful and unethical practices regarding female infanticide and prenatal sex selection;
(b) To increase public awareness of the value of the girl child, and concurrently, to
strengthen the girl child's self-image, self-esteem and status; (c) To improve the welfare of
the girl child, especially in regard to health, nutrition and education need to consider
implementing the following actions in mission.
Encourage the church members to speak out and act against patterns of gender
discrimination within the family, based on preference for sons. Promote education, to
ensure the widest and earliest possible access by girls and women to secondary and higher
levels of education, as well as to vocational education and technical training, bearing in
mind the need to improve the quality and relevance of that education. The mission of the
church should be to take the necessary measures to prevent infanticide, prenatal sex
selection, trafficking of girl children and use of girls in prostitution.
The church can take the following positive actions in her mission to the challenges on
violence to women and children.
• Express in public statements that female infanticide and all forms of violence are sin that
disregard the image of God and should never be tolerated or excused.
• Inform congregations about the reality of the various forms of violence against women
and children in church and society particular to their contexts.

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• Set up a specific focus on the issue at a prescribed time each year, such as the ‘Solidarity
Sunday’ with women. The pulpits should speak on these challenges and bring the
awareness and motivate for positive involvements.
• Appoint staff to address, redress and monitor violence against women, and open up a full-
time, well-funded women’s cell in the church.
• Create vigil groups in congregations that enquire into reports of violence in communities
and allocate resources for training in counseling to the members and put gender on all
planning and activities’ agendas and revise constitutions, laws, regulations and directives
to be ‘gender just.’
• Include the issue of violence against women in sermons, catechetical instruction and
theological curricula.
• Initiate discussion on this issue in churches’ educational and vocational institutions. Offer
gender training sessions for youth groups to deal with issues of violence, reflect on and re-
evaluate social and traditional norms.
• Make the church a safe place to which victims of violence can turn for safety, support
and healing. Offer possibilities of healing to both the victim and performer of violence.
• Ensure supportive and collaborative action from local government and non-government
bodies. Establish and maintain short-term shelters in collaboration with congregations and
specialized NGOs.
• Make policy resolutions that enable women to have right of entry to ministerial training
with the same provisions offered to male students be it scholarships or opportunities for
higher study. Provide fair and equal chances for upward mobility in the leadership of
church institutions and not to practice gender based ministerial formations.

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The churches need to take positive, affirmative steps to bring life in all its fullness to
women and to avail their diverse, God-given gifts to enrich the life and strengthen the
witness of the church. Women have shown their faithfulness. But has the church as an
institution been in solidarity with women as Jesus was in his life and ministry? The church
has pioneered many liberating actions. Eliminating violence against women in general and
female infanticide in particular could be another.
3. Mission of the Local Christians to the challenges of Female Infanticide
The rural local Christians can form “Sangha” (group), which mainly consists of local
women from the village and assigns some roles to the sangha members, such as: creating
awareness among the community about the need for education and help the community.
Spread the word against female infanticide to the people. Discuss with women and provide
counseling before and after they give birth to a child and help in having a positive attitude
in accepting and appreciating baby girls. Create awareness among women in realizing their
rights and make them fight against the social evils in the society like female infanticide and
the dowry system.
The pastors should enhance the awareness of the churches216, to be on the side of women
and children in capacity building, to ensure the rightful status of women in the church and
society, and enable children to enjoy their childhood. The churches need to focus on the
importance of improving the quality of family life through their participation and
contribution in the church and society.
Two points are to be noted here. First, the mission of the Church should never be a reaction
but only a response. Any reaction will produce further reactions only. If a mission has to
yield good fruits then, it should be a response and never a reaction. Second, any response
216
In this section the term church is used to refer the Christians.

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should not have the Church as its pivot. A Church-centred response may bring laurels to it
but may not be really fruitful. Our response should be reign-of-God centered. The factors
that need to be focused to meet the challenge of female infanticide are:
3.1. A prophetic role of the Christians to the challenges of female infanticide
The most important response of the Church should be to play a prophetic role that
contains the following responsibilities: to identify situations that are unacceptable to the
reign-of-God, to denounce these situations and to look for alternative situations. In short, it
is to deconstruct and reconstruct. The Church should be aware of the various social-
cultural-economical-political happenings of the nation, especially of violations of
personhood. Elijah’s prophetic ministry touched religion, politics and society (1. Kings.
21: 17-18). The preaching and miracles of Jesus exhibited the power of the prophetic
ministry (Mt. 11: 9-14; 17:1-17; Lk. 4: 16-18; Jn. 4: 19-20). He lived the messages of the
prophets to His context and even re-interpreted them. 217 It should identify the victims who
are very often women and children. It should become their spokesperson for they have
none to plead their cause. The Church should stand up for the rights of the victims and
express wholehearted solidarity with them. Caution needs to be generated among us of not
falling prey to the hands of the oppressors, even unconsciously, and should not be a
perpetrator of violence herself, even in subtle forms. Secondly, the Church should
denounce all situations that cause female infanticide. Prophet Amos (Amos. 2:7, 4:1)
denounced publicly the situations of his time. He even condemned the religious practices
that were against the poor, widows and the orphans (Amos. 5: 21, 22). Thirdly, the Church
should concentrate on constructing and safeguarding alternative situations and structures.
217
For information on the Prophetic Model in ministry refer JB Jeyaraj, Christian Ministry: Models of
ministry and Training, pp.113-123.

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These structures and situations should help the victims of female infanticide to be
rehabilitated, reoriented, and reconciled.
3.2. A new social order to the challenges of female infanticide
The Church should visualize a new social order that would replace the present rotten and
corrupt order of injustice and inequality and establish the value of life, and especially the
female children. The theme of the World Social Forum was, “Another World is Possible”.
This strong hope and vision should hit the Church. It should envisage and work towards a
new social order that would reflect the birth of a new heaven and a new earth.
A structural revolution is not possible without a cultural revolution. A new social order
requires a new mind-set. Many of our pre-judgments have to be unlearnt and new attitudes
need to be developed. Faulty worldviews looks on the raising the girl baby as burden and
creating new attitudes is Cultural Revolution. Furthermore, our ideologies should be clear
and should be able to tackle other ideologies that dehumanize the society. This is a
Herculean task but nevertheless, possible.
3.3. Renewal of ministries to the challenges of female infanticide
Every ministry of the Church should be reoriented towards a social transformation. The
education ministry could be the actual centers of proclaiming the values of life. Children
and teenagers are potential agents of social change and the atmosphere in Christian
institutions should cater to such a need. Pastors and the religious should be well equipped
to face the demands of anti-human structures. Our parishes should not be narrow-minded;
instead, it should welcome everyone to participate in the making of a new society. Social
work ministries should not be satisfied with mere relief and developmental projects. It
should seriously engage in building up people’s movements that would eventually address
various issues of violence.

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3.4. New forms of ministries to the challenges of female infanticide.
The mission of the Church in the context that we face today should be open for new
ministries such as Media Ministry. The electronic media, the print media, and the visual
media should be used thoroughly. Agrarian Ministry: India has been basically an agrarian
country, depending on its villages, but not much has been done to improve the lot of the
farmers. Poverty and unemployment have been its result causing deep frustration that leads
to female infanticide, and other such violence. There could be an agrarian ministry
especially to study and deal with land reforms, proper redistribution of land to the poor in
their struggle against poverty which can enable the poor to avoid female infanticide.
3.5. Networking with other groups to the challenges of female infanticide
There can be no isolated response to eradicate female infanticide and hence the mission of
the Church cannot be isolated either. The cooperation of other churches, other religions,
and like-minded groups should be sought to face the challenges of female infanticide.
Hoping for the best, the apt response and mission would be to live a witnessing life. The
Church should set an example by upholding the values mentioned above and should seek a
revival in its understanding of the world. Christians by their attitudes towards female
children in the family can set a powerful witness to the community to create and cultivate
positive attitudes towards female children. This in turn will promote in preventing female
infanticide. The Church should not be a church-for-others but should be a church-with-
others. Thitru Sabai (The church) should become Threu Sabai (the street church). Moving
away from a paternal attitude, it should bring in a sense of deep solidarity with the poor,
more specifically, women and children.
Networking with other groups in the mission is an urgent need to face the challenges in the
child care development. J.B. Jeyaraj tracing the biblical structures for partnership calls the

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need for a “third structure”218 (secular or religious belonging to the people of other faith) in
Christian ministry. Such explorations will enhance the mission of the church to be relevant
to the challenges of female infanticide.
Lastly, the main and the most important challenge is the loss of hope. The mission of the
church will attain fulfillment only when it addresses this situation of hopelessness and
helps humankind to hope for the best even in worst kind of situations. The mission of the
Church should be to reach out to the unreachable, to instill a ray of hope in situations of
darkness, to light a candle instead of cursing the darkness.
Summary
The biblical understanding of the holistic ministry throws light in evaluating the LMS,
CMS and DMPB mission contributions for the care of the children in Salem Dharmapuri
and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu. The mission had a holistic approach but in a limited
sense. The scope of the mission was limited to selective people group (dalits, kuravas and
kallers). Their contributions to the child care were limited to the schools, boarding homes
and orphanages and failed to make the impact in transforming the society. Further such
attempts were made mainly as a preparation for evangelism and church planting.
The Church is relevant as long as it finds the will of God in the present. To find this out,
our minds and hearts should be open for change. There could be violations of personhood
even within the church because of our worldviews. Therefore, the church should also
change.
When the compassion of God leads an evangelist to preach it opens his eyes to all kinds of
needs and gives him the will to meet them (cf., Mark 6:32-44 and the movement from
compassion to teaching to feeding). Practical wisdom and conceptual clarity with regard to
218
J.B. Jeyaraj, Christian Ministry: Models of Ministry and Training, Bangalore: TBT, 2002, pp. 244-246.

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the priorities of one's calling lead to the accomplishment of several tasks born of
compassion (cf., Jesus' example in Mark 1:32-39).
The mission of the church at large to the present challenges need to protect and heal the
victims of female infanticide, to engage in effective presence and support for the victims,
and to defend the rights of female children and speaking up for them219. The church in
local context need take up the prophetic model, provide a new social order, create new
forms of ministry that are relevant to the challenges of female infanticide. Further, it
should promote the net working with other groups and create a “third structure” for
partnership in mission.
Christian ministers need to look for the possibility of churches to collaborate with
government, non-governmental, and faith-based organizations to eradicate poverty,
corruption, and female infanticide. The churches need to understand that the “minority
status” should not be conceived as weakness, but as strength; to be like salt, light, and
leaven.
219
The field survey reveals the fact that the pulpits are silent in speaking up on these issues and challenges.

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CONCLUSION
When girls go missing in society, when a child is denied the right to life only because she
is born a girl, when discrimination starts when a girl is in the womb and continues until the
grave and when a girl’s right to bloom and blossom is nipped in the bud, can we sit back
and ignore it? This study looked at the challenges of these issues with special reference to
female infanticide in Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu and
attempted to draw the missiological implications for holistic mission of the church.
The first chapter presented the introduction and proposal for this research study. There
are many research articles found on the subject of female infanticide. The internet and
electronic library provide many books and articles on female infanticide. The second
chapter identified a few recent and important works and made a literature review. The
review revealed the fact that there were many studies on the subject from the sociological
perspective and that the missiological study remained insufficient and continues to be a
challenge even today.
The third chapter painted the historical background of the area of study to understand the
context of the subject. The major demographic trends in India in general and in Salem,
Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu in particular showed the sex composition,
population trends, life expectancy, birth rate and death rate based on the 2001 census. The
major finding of the chapter was that the demographic trends in Salem, Dharmapuri and
Madurai districts are constantly decreasing. The population trend, sex ratio, IMR, the birth
and death rates in these districts are at the desegregation level. This chapter found out that
there is a population explosion and the imbalance in sex ratio is increasing in India. There
is a high birth rate and decreasing death rate in India.

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This chapter in looking at the demographic trends in Tamilnadu found out that the juvenile
sex ratio is in an alarming state and at the district level both the Salem and Dharmapuri
districts are in a questionable condition and below the state average. The poverty level
witnessed a dramatic decrease since 1980.The level of poverty is still higher in the rural
areas than the urban areas, but the Dharmapuri district showed a high decline in the rural
poverty level. Though the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and Crude Birth rate (CBR) declined,
the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) remains high, here again the IMR in rural areas are higher
than the urban pockets. The state literacy campaign such as “Arivoli Iyakkam” has made a
significant impact in raising the literacy level especially the woman literacy level in the
districts. The status of human development such as income, employment, health and
nutrition are in a deplorable condition.
This chapter showed the awful condition of the people who practice female infanticide.
The understanding of the condition at the country level, state level in general as well as the
Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts in particular leads to the understanding of the
history, methods and impacts of female infanticide. The context will help to understand the
subject of female infanticide. Hence the fifth chapter presents the history and patterns of
female infanticide in India and Tamilnadu.
In the fourth chapter, through a study of the history and patterns of female infanticide,
the chapter identified that it is an age-old practice in India. The practice of female
infanticide was first discovered in 1789. The British passed the law against female
infanticide in 1870 but later the act was buried. The first reporting of female infanticide in
the Usilampatti block of Madurai districts in Tamilnadu came in 1986. The practice of
female infanticide was found in other parts of the state and the regions became known as
“female infanticide belt”. The practice continues today in areas of extreme poverty and

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overpopulation. The study identified that the practice is very high in Salem, Dharmapuri
and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu. Female infants, then and now are vulnerable.
This chapter further explained various female infanticide methods such as the use of
pesticides, paddy husk, chicken soup, salt water and wet cloth methods adopted in Salem,
Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu. The study also found out that the new
methods are invented in these regions to escape the law and punishments. The study found
out the mother in laws, Maruthavachis, the unqualified local nurses, the elders and
relatives in the family are the people behind the female infanticide. The field study on the
methods of female infanticide documented the cruel act and the people who carry out this
act of female infanticide. This has made a serious impact in the society, in sex ratio and on
the health of the women.
This chapter highlighted the psychological impacts such as shame, guilt, depression,
anxiety and grief of the victims. Sociological impacts such as sexual violence lead to
damaged social bonds in the family and in the society. These impacts are presented for
focused missiological implications for relevant interventions to the challenges of female
infanticide. The understanding of the context and the subject raises the question: what are
the reasons for the practice of female infanticide? Hence the attention is focused to
understand the reasons for this practice in the fifth chapter.
In the fifth chapter, the religious, economic, social and cultural reasons for the practice of
female infanticide were identified to draw relevant missiologial implications for
partnership in mission. Female infanticide is a horrible manifestation of the anti-female
bias that continues to pollute societies throughout the world. Even in technologically
advanced and educated societies the brutal practice continues. The successful eradication

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of the practice of female infanticide seems an arduous task. In order to combat the
phenomenon, careful consideration of the factors leading to the practice is necessary.
This chapter highlighted the religious reasons in Hinduism and Islam. The study found out
that there is no religious sanction for female infanticide in either Hinduism or Islam. There
are manthras in vedas to change the sex of the fetus but the Hindu scriptures are against
female infanticide and abortion. It is the misinterpretations of the religious traditions that
give the room for female infanticide. The Arabs committed female infanticide before the
rise of Islam. Islam prohibits infanticides. Islam considers women very highly as, daughter,
a wife, a mother and as a sister. It is not the philosophical religious teachings but the
popular religious traditions that promoted the female infanticide.
This chapter also identified the gender bias, preference for a son and a male centered value
system in the society are the cultural reasons for female infanticide. The economic utility,
socio-cultural utility and ritual rites are identified as the reasons for son preference. The
economic utility factors such as support to the family, cultural factors such as carrying the
family line and the religious factors such as performing the final rituals were identified as
major religious and cultural reasons for the son preference that promoted the practice of
female infanticide.
The study further identified dowry and poverty as the economic reasons for female
infanticide. The high demand for the dowry added to poverty forces one to opt for female
infanticide. The study found out that the dowry from a voluntary or meritorious act turned
out to be a birth right practice. Female infanticides that result from the dowry tradition
must be abolished through increased enforcement of legal provisions. The study also found
out that unemployment, change in the family values, decay in sex and moral values, and
abortions are the outcome of poverty in the society. Poverty makes a great impact in the

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society to carry out female infanticide. The crimes, related to dowry and poverty, are
rooted in dominant Indian social, religious, and ideological forces; the complete
eradication of dowry can only be attained when these social and religious attitudes are
forced to change.
The social causes that were discovered were the low status of women and the caste system.
The education of both men and women, social strategies to improve the status of women,
and access to family counseling and healthcare were the means of eliminating female
infanticide, as well as elevating the value assigned to women. It is by the supportive will of
society to bring about social, cultural and economic reforms and active support of the
strong and efficient state apparatus dedicated to the ethics of gender justice that will
enhance the position of women all over the globe. The reasons stated in this chapter need
to be placed in the context of Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai districts of Tamilnadu,
hence the next chapter analyzed the field research study findings on female infanticide.
In the sixth chapter, the field research findings on the reasons for female infanticide were
analyzed and interpreted both in general and on selected themes. The field study identified
that property rights, dowry, protective entanglement for the girl child, the need to carry on
the lineage, the belief that the male child needs to carry on the rituals, anti-female bias,
astrological predictions and infanticide as a family planning method are the major reasons
for the practice of female infanticide.
The chapter also makes thematic analysis of the field study. The interpretations of the
findings recommended were; the need for collective action, the need to correct the
misunderstandings (such as astrology, family planning) and the importance of networking
with the medical personals in combating the female infanticide. Further, the principles in
developing the model for holistic mission partnership were presented. The study

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highlighted the three-sector model of involving the Government, NGOs and the Churches
in facing the challenges of female infanticide. The chapter recommended the partnerships
with information and communication technologies (ICTs) for an online attempt in
combating female infanticide. The study identified the need for collective action,
correcting the misunderstandings and networking with the medical personals as the major
concerns in shaping the partnership for holistic mission. The study of the context and
causes of female infanticide leads to thoughts on developing the strategies to prevent and
control the practice. Hence, the seventh chapter led the attention to study strategies and
intervention plans for female infanticide.
The seventh chapter explained the strategies and intervention plans to prevent and
control female infanticide. This chapter identified the limitations of the preventive
strategies and highlighted the participatory approach. A voluntary participation of the
community and individuals will result in comparatively quick checking and preventing the
problem. The long-term preventive strategies with their limitations were also identified.
This chapter also highlighted the components of empowering, enhancing and educating the
women for effective prevention of female infanticide as well as identified the three layer
levels (village, block and district levels) for monitoring the preventive strategies.
The strategies for controlling female infanticide were: nurture the change in the attitude on
female children, public participation, promoting adoption and providing counseling to the
victims of female infanticide. The sociological, medical, legal, media and administrative
intervention plans both at the individual levels and group levels were highlighted to shape
the missiological implications for partnership in mission.
This chapter identified the powerful impact of media in preventing female infanticide. The
attempt made through the documentary films, Tamil cinema such as Karuthamma, and

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street theaters such as Kalaipayanam were presented to develop intervention plans to
control female infanticide. The chapter presented strategies to call for mission partnerships
to handle the challenges of female infanticide. The relevant missiological implications for
partnership in holistic mission evolved from the strategies presented in this chapter. This
lead to the question: what are the Government and Non-Government contributions to the
challenges of female infanticide? Hence, the next chapter dealt with this subject.
In the eighth chapter the contributions of the Government and the Non-Government
Organizations were presented with special reference to two Christian organizations, the
Society for Integrated Social Upliftmant (SISU) in Madurai district and Bethel Agricultural
Fellowship (BAF) in the Salem and Dharmapuri districts of Tamilnadu. Their
contributions asked for special attention to legal and educational components in mission.
The legal challenges were the laws affecting women and the significance of the law on
Pre-Natal Diagnostics Techniques. The challenges in education in relation to female
infanticide called attention to improve women literacy levels, barriers to education and
gender bias in curriculum.
This chapter highlighted challenges in the Government and NGOs interventions such as
“Cradle Baby” shame and “The Baby Rescue Homes”. These initiatives need to be
appreciated but on the other hand they have indirectly promoted female infanticide, further
these attempts were only treating the result and not the root of the problems in the society.
The fact is that the Church or Christian Organizations cannot by themselves solve all
problems related to female infanticide. We need to admit that God works through the
Government and the several NGOs to carry out His mission of promoting abundant life to
the individuals as well as the society at large. Government is an institution established by
God (Rom 13) and the 'Cradle Baby Scheme' may be appreciated in spite of its inadequacy.

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The Christian missions need to take pro-life much more seriously on the basis of the
biblical understanding of God’s creation of humans in His image. The need and the
components to develop models that will treat the root of the evil were highlighted in
developing the relevant partnership for holistic mission.
In chapter nine, the biblical perspectives on creation, abortion, infanticide, family and
holistic mission were stated. The findings of the study identified that human beings were
created in the image of God and there is no room to degrade the female. The children are
God’s gift and created in the image of God. All life is precious to God and worthy to live.
The biblical account of creation gives value to all human life and calls on us to treat every
human being with dignity. The Creator is involved in an intimate knowing relationship not
only with those who have been born, but also with the unborn in the womb. The practice of
female infanticide or euthanasia is wrong.
The thought of women having abortions in order to choose the sex of their future children
fills many with revulsion. SD is undesirable and the legal prohibition is likely to produce
more harm than benefit to women and girl children in societies with strong preference for
sons. This conclusion must be tempered by the potential negative consequences of a severe
imbalance in the sex ratio. Social reforms rather than prohibition of SD are more likely to
achieve desirable effects. This chapter states a strategy that will promote to increase
respect for women and to enhance their status. In the end, it is social and cultural change,
not legal prohibition that can enhance the position of women in traditional societies.
We need to explore the possibilities of inclusive mission, joining hands with people and
organizations committed to saving the lives of precious baby girls. There are different
views on the medical ground but the history of the church at various stages has raised her

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voice against abortion. God is the giver, sustainer and receiver of human life. The biblical
mission is holistic and it calls us to take the whole gospel to the whole person.
In the tenth chapter, the contributions of the mission (such as LMS, CMS and DMPB)
for female childcare, stated that the partnership for holistic mission is protection, presence
and active participation for the victims of female infanticide. The contributions of the
mission for the care of the children are mainly centered on providing primary education
and the running of hostels. The mission raised awareness on various customs, traditions
and superstitions but failed to address the challenges of female infanticide either directly or
indirectly.
This chapter highlighted the mission of the universal Church as protecting and caring for
the victims of female infanticide. The next step is promoting an effective presence and also
defending the rights of the victims of female infanticide. The holistic mission should be
concerned with the relief and rehabilitation for the victims of female infanticide.
This chapter also identified the mission of the local church (Christians) to female
infanticide. The prophetic role of the local church or the Christian community called for
the deconstructions (evils that promote female infanticide) and reconstructions (events that
promote biblical values of human beings) in mission. The local church or the Christians
need to create a new social order, renewal of ministries, new forms of ministry and
networking with other groups in their respective local context to combat female
infanticide.
The study of the context and the sociological conceptual study of the methods, the causes
of female infanticide, the strategies to develop partnerships in holistic mission and the
contributions of the Government and Non-Governmental Organizations to female
infanticide need to be placed in a biblical frame of reference. Hence the final chapter

P 254
focused on the biblical perspectives of the subject for relevant missiological implications
to female infanticide.
The missiological implications of the holistic mission partnership suggested will enhance
and empower the women and shift the attention from addressing the result to focusing on
the root of the evil. The main thesis of the study is that female infanticide in Salem,
Dharmapuri and Madurai districts are a reality and a challenge in mission. Developing an
appropriate and relevant pattern for partnership in holistic mission can prevent and control
the practice of female infanticide in these districts.

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Department, Chennai, 1998.
Government of Tamil Nadu., Performance Budget, 1998-99. Health and Family Welfare
Department, Chennai: April 1998.
Ilangovan, R. “Salem shedding notoriety for infanticide,” The Hindu, Chennai, May 8,
2003, p. 5.
Iyengar, P. “Female infanticide: sex ratio in Tamil Nadu dips.” Times of India, Bombay:
30 January,1993, p17.
Iyengar, P. “Girls in Salem are born to die.” Times of India. Bombay: 24 August, 1999,
p.5.
Jain, Kalpana. “Infant mortality rate goes up in cities.” The Times of India, Delhi: May 7,
1996, p. 8.
Jayalalitha.J. l5-Point Programme for Child Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu,
Department of Social Welfare, (Madras, November, 1993), pp.1-2.
Jeyaraj Jesudason Baskar, Biblical perspectives on children and their Protection: Towards
a Child Theology, Unpublished paper, p.1-9.
K. J. Kurian, “Female Infanticide in India,” Eubios Ethics Institute Newsletter, 3, 1993.
Kirubhakaran R., Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, Social Welfare & Nutritious
Meal Programme Department, Government Order, Ms. No. 533, (Madras, 13 October
1992); Ms. No. 184, (Madras, 13 July 1993); Ms. No. 533, ( Madras, 11 October
1993); Ms. No. 21, (Madras, 19 January 1994).
Kumar, D. "Ban on sex test clinics unwise." The Times of India, Delhi, December 12,
1988, p. 9.
Mani, V.R. “Tamil Nadu Female Infanticide Drops.” Times of India, Delhi, December 2,
1993, p7.
Ministry of Human Resource Development Report (MHRD), 2003.
Negi, Elizabeth Francina, Death By Social Causes- Perceptions and Responses to Female
Infanticide in Tamil Nadu, Monograph #5, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation,
Chennai. 1997.

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Radhakrishnan, J. “Schemes to make Salem district female friendly,” The Hindu, Madras,
June 9, 1994, p.4.
Radhakrishnan, J. “Schemes to make Salem district female friendly,” The Hindu, Madras,
June 9, 1994, p.4.
Rai, U. “Female Infanticide rampant in Salem.” Indian Express, July 7, 1992, p.3.
Register General and Census Commissioner (RGCC), 1977.
Register General and Census Commissioner (RGCC), 2003.
Sharma, Kalpana, Babies in the well, The Hindu, Madurai, 3, September, 2006, p.3.
Subramani, V. Female infanticide spreading to new areas, The Hindu, Chennai, January7,
1998, p.4.
Tamil Nadu Human Development Report, Delhi: Social Science Press,2003.
Vaasanthi. “Born to die: tragedy of the doomed daughter.” The Hindu. Madras, 20
November, 1994, p.7.
Venkatesan Radha, “Female Infanticide: Old Reasons, New Techniques,” The Hindu,
(June 24, 2001), p.5
Tamilnadu Government Orders
Kirubhakaran, R. Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, Social Welfare & Nutritious
Meal Programme Department. Government Order. Ms No 533, 13 (Madras:
October1992).
_________.. Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, Social Welfare & Nutrition Meal
Programme Department, Government Order, Ms No 184, (Madras: 13 July, 1993).
_________.. Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, Social Welfare & Nutritious Meal
Programme Department, Government Order, Ms No 533, (Madras: 11 October 1993).
__________.. Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, Social Welfare & Nutritious Meal
Programme Department, Government Order, Ms No 21, (Madras: 19 January1994).
Webliography
Abolition of human sacrifice and female infanticide,
www.mergingcurrents.com/TRIB_details.html
Abortion Infanticide Foeticide India
www.indianchild.com/abortion_infanticide_foeticide_india.html
Advocacy and action against Female infanticide in Tamil Nadu
www.aidindia.net/femaleinfantacide.html

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AIDWA Seminar on Son Preference ,

www.pd.cpim.org
Born to Die,
http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/oct/24spec.html
Female Demographic Disadvantage in India 1981-1991
www.hsph.harvard.edu/organizations/healthnet/gender/docs/sudha.html
Female Infanticide
www.iifhr.com/womens/website/female_infanticide.html
Female Infanticide in India
www.strategypage.com/messageboards/messages/asp
Female Infanticide in Tamil Nadu, India
www.hsph.harvard.edu/Organizations/healthnet/SAsia/george.html
Female infanticide
www.tamilnadueducation.net/local/frmnewsdesc01.html
Fertility Decline, Family Size and Female Discrimination: A Study ,
www.unescap.org/pop/journal/2002/v17pdf
Gendercide Watch: Female Infanticide
www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html
Grim motives behind infant killings
www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/html
Community Services Trust, Salem
www.wecaretoo.com/Organizations/IND/csts.html.
India Society: Female infanticide in Tamil Nadu.
www.the-week.com/99jan24/life2.html
Infanticide, www.hinduwomen.org/issues/infanticide.html
Injustice to the Unborn Infant.
www.sitagita.com/club/messages/cry3.html
Survey on the Status of Women and Fertility India Field Report.
www.pop.upenn.edu/swaf/country/INDfieldrpt.pdf
The Need for Action Against Female Feticide in India
www.aidindia.org/aipsn/health/feticide.html

P 265
The War Room: Female Infanticide in India

www.warroom.com/femalinfancide.html
Vedic Obliteration of Girls : Origins of Female Infanticid.
www.dalitstan.org/books/gowh/gowh1.html.
Tamilnadu: A Profile
www.undp.org.in/hdrc/shdr/TN/Chp1.pdf.
History of Madurai,
www.madurai.tn.nic.in/history.html
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http://techcentralstation.com/071504B.html
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http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/.html
Class, Caste and Gender- Women in India
http://www.idea.int/ women/parl/ studies4/html

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Appendix.
1. India Profile Charts and Tables
1.1. Birth and death Rate in India
1.2. India: Sex ratio
1.3. Density of Population.

P 267
2. Tamilnadu profile charts and tables.
2.1. Tamilnadu Census 2001 table
Source: Tamilnadu Census Report 2001.
2.2. Urban Population

P 268
2.3. Tamilnadu sex Ratio.
3. Dharmapuri and Madurai districts maps.
3.1. Dharmapuri District Map.

P 269
3.2. Madurai Distict map.
3.3. Salem District map.
4. Major differences between the Gounders, Vanniers and Dalits in Tamilnadu.

5.
Characteristics Vanniars Gounders Kallers
Family Both the joint and Prefer Nuclear Live as joint family
Nuclear family family system in one roof but cook
system exist separately
Dowry High demand for High demand for Demand for dowry
dowry dowry is present
Land holing Have land Have more land No land holdings
holding holdings
Abortion Common common Traditional practices
of abortion exists
Practice of feticide Quite often Very rampant Not so high
Practice of infanticide Very rampant Not so high Quite often

P 270
5. Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai Districts field Research Graphs
5.1. Respondent’s Occupation
60 52.38
50 42.86
40
Percentage
30
20
10 4.76
0
Daily wages unoccupied Others
Occupation
5.2. Respondents by their age at marriage
60
52.38
50
40
Percentage
28.57
30
20 16.67
10
2.38
0
BELOW 15 16-18 19-21 AFTER 21
Age at Marriage

P 271
5.3. Details on the Girl Children of the respondents
80 71.43
70
60
50
Percentage
40
23.81
30
20
4.76
10
0
1-2. 3-4. ABOVE 5
Number of Girls
5.4. Respondents by their monthly income
70
61.9
60
50
40
Percentage
30
19.05 19.05
20
10
0
Below Rs.1000 Rs. 1000-2000 Above Rs. 2000
Total Monthly Income

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5.5. Respondent’s reasons for not adopting family planning.
70
61.11
60
50
40
30
Percentage
22.22
20 16.67
10
0
Fear Desire for Son No reason
5.6. Respondent’s reasons for son preference.
100
100 95.24
90 83.33
80 76.19
70
60
Percentage
50 47.62
40
30
20
10
0
Over expenses Dowey Safty fear Lineage Statusquo

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5.7. Respondent’s reasons for female infanticide.
100 100
100 95.24
90 83.33 83.33
80 76.19
70
Percentage
60
50
40
30
20
10
0 Dowry Poverty Over expenses Safty fear Desire for Son Satusquo
6. Field research tables.
The field research survey is conducted in 120 (direct respondents) families in Salem,
Dharmapuri and Madurai districts in Tamilnadu and also 250 (indirect respondents) were
drawn from the doctors, nurses, social workers, pastors, local evangelists, teachers and
community health workers from May to July 2006.
6.1. Views on Killing the Female Child

S.No Opinion Given Direct Percentage Indirect Percentage
Respondents Respondents
Common Practice 57 47 53 21
01
Sinful Practice 27 23 92 37
02
Due to low status of 26 23 64 25
03 Woman
Due to the failures in 10 07 41 17
04 Government program
TOTAL 120 100 250 100

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6.2. Female infanticide decision makers.
S.No Decision Makers Direct Percentage Indirect Percentage

01 Husband 66 56 94 37
02 Husband’s Mother 41 34 122 49
03 Wife 05 04 13 05
04 Husband’s Father 02 02 04 02
05 Mother’s Parents 01 01 02 01
06 Village Dai 03 02 12 05
07 Relatives 02 01 03 01
TOTAL 120 100 250 100
6.3. Economic Reasons for Female Infanticide.
S.No Economic Reasons Direct Percentage Indirect Percentage

01 Transfer of Property 31 26 71 28
02 Raising up girls is 66 55 74 30
Expensive
03 Poverty and 17 14 83 33
Unemployment
04 No access to 6 5 22 09
Government Aids
TOTAL 120 100 250 100
6.4. People who commit Female Infanticide
S.No People Direct Percentage Indirect Percentage

01 Husband’s Mother 39 33 74 30
02 Husband’s Father 19 16 24 09
03 Village Dai 25 20 64 26
04 Father 17 14 38 15
05 Mother 03 03 10 14
06 Relatives 12 10 30 12
07 Neighbors 05 04 10 04
TOTAL 120 100 250 100

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6.5. Reasons for the practice of female infanticide.
S.No Reasons Direct Percentage Indirect Percentage

01 Astrological 49 56 53 21
prediction
02 Expected Male Child 27 23 149 59
03 Ill Health Child 02 02 08 04
04 Economic condition 42 19 40 16
of the Family
TOTAL 120 100 250 100
6.6. Reasons for not using family planning
S.No Reasons Direct Percentage Indirect Percentage

01 Craze for Male Child 65 54 150 60
02 Lack of Motivation 25 21 45 18
03 Fear of Family plan 18 14 38 15
Method
04 Not Interested 10 08 15 06
05 Not Aware 02 03 02 01
TOTAL 120 100 250 100
6.7. Methods of Female Infanticide
S.No Method of Killing Direct Percentage Indirect Percentage

Female Infanticide Respondents Respondents
01 Milk of Calotropis 44 37 52 21
02 Paddy Grain 33 28 51 20
03 Poison 20 17 84 25
04 More Milk & Put the 05 04 14 06
Child upside down
05 Poisons seed 04 03 12 05
06 Starving the Child 04 03 06 02
07 Salt water 04 03 07 03
08 wet cloth 06 05 10 04
09 Scan & Feticide 34 14
TOTAL 120 100 250 100

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6.8. Ordinal Position of the Child Killed
S.No Ordinal Position of Direct Percentage Indirect Percentage

the Child Killed Respondents Respondents
01 First Child 12 10
02 Second Child 48 40 124 50
03 Third Child 55 45 82 33
04 Fourth Child 05 05 44 17
TOTAL 120 100 250 100
6.9. Social Reasons for female Infanticide
S.No Social Reasons for Direct Percentage Indirect Percentage

female Infanticide Respondents Respondents
01 Dowry 51 43 80 32
02 Perception of Social 25 21 46 18
Burden
03 Low status of 18 15 45 18
Women
04 Handicapped 02 02 02 01
05 Born to unwedded 02 02 04 02
Mothers
06 Mother’s health 02 02 02 01
07 Preference to Males 04 03 24 10
08 Caste Influence 04 03 22 08
09 Lack of Action 02 02 13 05
against FI
10 Lack of Protection to 07 05 10 04
Young girls
11 Fear of loosing 03 02 02 01
Family Dignity
TOTAL 120 100 250 100

P 277
Case. 1. Baby Lucina.
Baby Lucina’s father Mr. Kannan is 29 years of age and married to Jansi Rani who is 25
years old. They have daughter Sangeetha 7 years old and a son 3 years old. Both Kannana
and Jansi work on daily wages and make an average of Rs. 150.00 per day. They go to
Salem town for their work. Jansi gave birth to a girl on 31.8.2006. Jansi’s mother in law
and the husband wanted to kill the baby and gave the poison to the baby.
The neighbors came to know this and with the help of the mother brought the baby to
Bethel Agricultural Fellowship. The fellowship arranged for immediate medical care and
saved the baby. Later the parents came to give the undertaking to Bethel fellowship and the
baby is named as Lucina and now five months old.
Mr. Kannan is not interested in family planning as he fears that it will not give him sexual
pleasure. The health workers keep the follow up.
Baby Lucina

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Case. 2. Baby Ramya.
Mr. Kannayan hails from Saminayakanpatti of Omalur block in Salem District. He is 29
years old and married to Sudha, who is 23 years old. They belong to the pariyar
community, which is considered as low caste. They have three daughters, Keeerthana 9
years old, Poovizhi 5 years and Suganthi 3 years old.
Kannayan and Sudha are uneducated and live on daily wages. They live in poverty and
very much desire to have a son. While Sudha was on the family way the family members
and the relatives and the immediate community expected a son. The parents went to the
temples to offer poojas and prayed for a son. On 25 th Auguest 2006, Sudah gave birth to a
pretty girl baby. The parents wanted to kill the baby. Through the social workers, they
were guided to the Bethel fellowship and gave the baby to the Baby Rescue Home and
wrote a bond stating that they will not claim the baby in the future.
The health workers advised family planning to the parents and due their strong preference
to have a son; they refused and anxiously wait for a boy baby while their fourth daughter is
named as Ramya is in Bethel fellowship, Danishpet, Salem.
Baby Ramya

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Case. 3. Baby Shyamala.
Mr. Chinnayan lives in a remote village called china Nadupatti, in Omlaur block of Salem
district. He comes from the Vanniyar caste, which is considered as a high caste
community. Mr. Chinnayan is 29 years old and married to Chitra who is 25 years old, both
of them are uneducated and unable to read and write.
Mr. Chinnayan is a weaver and makes about Rs. 100.00 per day and they have three
daughters namely, Priya 8 years old, Selvi 5 years old and Santhiya 3 years old. They
desired to have a son and Chitra gave a birth a daughter on 29. 9.2006. Both the father and
the grand parents wanted to kill the baby but the friends advised them to surrender the
baby to the cradle baby scheme.
The local evangelist guided the parents to Bethel fellowship. The baby is now five months
old and named as Shyamala.. They were met by the health workers to go for family
planning but due to their desire for a son, the parents refused, further due to the
misconception and fear of the operation they are not happy to go for the family planning.
Babay Shyamala

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Case. 4. Baby Vivillia.
Mr. Sounder Rajan hails from K.Morur village, in Omalur block of Salem district. He is 40
years of old and married to Santhosam who is 29 years old. They work as agricultural
laborers and both of them make an average of about Rs. 200.00 per day. They have two
daughters Meena 10 years old and Sumithra 5 years old.
Santhosam (meaning Joy) gave birth to a girl baby on 3.9.2006 and this was not a joyful
news to her. The father wanted to kill the baby but the grand parents came to know about
the baby rescue home at Bethel, brought the child to the fellowship to save the baby from
female infanticide. Later the parents came to Bethel give away the baby and expressed the
same in writing.
The mother wanted to rise up the child and the father who is audited to alcoholism beating
the wife and the threatening to kill the child has led her to give away the baby to bethel and
live in guilt feeling. The baby is named as Vivillia and brought up by the fellowship.
Baby Vivilia

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Case. 5. Baby Benitta.
Baby Benitta’s father Mr. Palni is 47 years old and married to Jeyamma who is 45 years
old. They both live in Adi dravidar colony in Theevatipatti village of Omlaur block of
Salem District. The parents are uneducated and unable to read and write. They have one
daughter Mariammmal 17 years of age and married. They have 3 sons Murugasan 15
years, Ravikumar 9 years and Srinivasan 5 years old.
While Jayamma was on the family way her husband Palani forced her to go for abortion
but Jeyamma refused and gave birth to the girl baby on 7.8.2005. Then the option given to
her was to kill the baby. Jeyamma refused to kill the baby and as the result her husband
deserted the family and left the house.
The neighbors advised her to give the baby to bethel fellowship so that she can live with
her husband and the family can be united. The baby came to the bethel fellowship and
named as Benitta. Jayamma is still anxiously waiting for her husband Palani to return
home. In poverty and anxiety she runs the family.
Baby Benitta

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Case.6. Baby Varshini.
Baby Vershini’s father Gandhi is 40 years old and mother Selvi is 25 years old. They live
in Kanjanayakanpatti village of Omalur block, Salem District. The come from the Gounder
community. They have a daughter Kangavalli 6 years old and two sons Saktivel 4 years
old and Ramesh 2 year old.
The family makes their income on daily wages and lives in poverty. When Selvi gave birth
to a baby girl on 21.6.2006, the parents decided to kill the baby or surrender the baby to the
government cradle baby scheme. Knowing the situation a nurse who knows about the baby
rescue home in Bethel, came with the one day baby and parents.
The parents expressed their in ability to rise up the second daughter Varahini due to their
poverty and cost involved in raising a daughter. Initially they wanted to kill the baby and
approached the nurse for help but due to the advice of the nurse they changed their mind to
give away the baby to bethel. Further, they remarked as “any number of boys is alright but
not more than one girl”.
Baby Varshini

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Case 7.
Lakshmi and her husband Ram are highly educated (post-graduates) couple living in
Dharmapuri district. The husband earns a salary of Rs.6, 000 per month and at present they
live in a joint family consisting of the father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law and his
wife.
Lakshmi has one daughter and she conceived a second time after keeping a conscious
spacing of three years. In the fifth month of pregnancy, she went for amniocentesis and
found the fetus to be a female. She did not reveal this to her in-laws but secretly, with her
husband's consent, underwent an abortion. The researcher was able to contact her before
the event, and found Lakshmi to be depressed and pale with fear and the guilt of having
conceived a daughter. While her husband did not mind having a daughter again, Laksmi
feels ashamed of going out in her community as she is looked down upon for not having a
son. Lakshmi, wanted to have only two children and to earn the respect of the family she
presumed that it is important to have a son.
Case.8.
Sangitha is a matriculate housewife whose husband Santhosh works in a government
office, earning RS. 7,000/- per month. The family is nuclear with two daughters, living
near Maduari. Sangeetha, has a history of two female feticides and faced a number of
health problems due to the tests and the subsequent abortions. She feels relieved that the
doctor was able to determine the sex of the fetus in the first trimester of pregnancy
However, to her satisfaction, the third time the test revealed a male fetus. The discussion
with the couple made it clear that both of them considered a son a social as well as an
economic necessity of the family.

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Though the couples expressed their reservations, that they cannot rely on their children for
old age security, because they consider that it is bad not to have a son, they favor female
feticide. The driving force in the family to go for female feticide is the feeling of having a
son is a status quo. Their preference for having a son is so strong that they do not want to
go for family planning. The tragedy is that Sangitha is now on the family and when she
finds the fetus is female, she may go for feticide. The health workers and local evangelists
identified such high risk people and continue the follow up.
Case. 9.
Nothing can give more joy to a woman than the birth of a child. All the pain and strain
disappear at the first sight of the baby. The case of Chellamma in Salem district is
different. She says, “But not for me. I was unlucky to have a girl, one after another girl
(now seven) and two boys (five year and three year old). The moment I heard it was a girl,
I knew I had to steel my heart; I did not even breast-feed her. I knew, as did my husband,
that we would have to do away with her. With an income of about Rs.150 a week, we
simply could not afford to have another girl. Anyway, it was common to get rid of
unwanted babies - an age-old practice in our area”.
My husband Chellappa and I thought we would get rid of the baby at the hospital itself.
But we did not, after the nurse warned us about over a dozen arrests having been made for
killing babies and over half a dozen bodies of babies having been exhumed in the area in
the past five months.
Discharged from hospital, the parents came home with the new born girl baby. Soon
enough, neighbors began pressuring them to do away with the baby as bringing up two
girls would be very difficult. The parents were afraid of the police arrest and punishment
and also did not want to leave the baby in the government cradle.

P 285
Chellappa suggested that they will hand over the baby to the Collector on a Grievance Day
as it would hopefully ensure her care by the district administration. They narrated the
event as, “Thus, we set out for Salem, 45 km from our village, to meet the Collector. On
the way we met Valarmathi and Manickam, who had had a third baby girl nine days
earlier. They also decided to come with us to hand over their new-born to the Collector.
Both I and Valarmathi took from the Collector certificates that we had surrendered our
babies. “
Challappa had no second thoughts and so states that, “If it was a boy I would have kept
him, and if I had not left the new-born in the government cradle or handed her over to the
Collector, I would have killed her, and perhaps been in jail by now”. But Valarmathi and
Manickam could not get over what they had done, and got the baby back within a week.
Manikam do not want to go in for sterilization as he has to climb trees to tap toddy. His
remark is, “I am happy at least we did not kill the baby”.
The female infanticide has gone on for so long that people seem to have internalized it.
There is even community pressure to do away with girls, as Chellappa experienced. He
says: "In the last 40 years, I have grown up seeing girl babies being killed all around me by
my grandmother, mother, sister, aunt and neighbors. So, it does not strike me as something
wrong."
Case 10.
Pappa of Avaniperur in Dharmapuri district says, "Nothing has changed for us in decades.
We continue in poverty. We get farm work for hardly 200 days a year, toddy tapping for
about 80 days." Bringing up a girl child is very difficult in such a situation, she says. "I
can leave my 13-year-old boy out with a loin cloth. But my girl of the same age has to be
dressed properly. I just cannot even afford a change of clothes for the two girls, leave alone

P 286
their marriage expenses." Her twin daughters Kala and Kalpana were rescued by the
NGO called Poonthalir220( poonthalir means tender leaves)
Dowry worries them all. Karupayye of Bodinayakanpatti, who has three girls and a boy:
says "Even a man who collects cow dung has to be given 10 sovereigns (about 80 grams,
worth about Rs.65, 000 at current rates) of gold; it is enough if one is a male." Son
preference is very high in the area. A woman of Vellalavalavu village, who has four girls
and a boy (she confessed on having killed two girl babies), says: "A sonless woman is
considered unlucky and would be 'kept aside', and the husband would remarry." S.
Mariamma of Kachipalli, whose nine day old granddaughter was handed over to the Salem
Collector but after two days was retrieved.
Case. 11.
Mr. Raman and his wife Kamala live in Kadayampatti block of Salem District. They are
from the Gounder community; they are rich and own land. When they had their first girl
baby both their parents and the relatives felt pity for them and warned them not to have the
second girl as it would lead them in loosing their property (the land) in dowry. Kamala
when she became pregnant again she was more worried and anxious to have a son. When
she gave birth to the second girl neither the husband nor the relatives came to see her and
the message from her mother-in-law was to get rid of the baby and come home.
Kamala, after a great struggle hardened her mind to get rid of the baby. The very same day,
the three day old baby was given heavy sleeping dose and poison with the help of the local
unqualified nurse and the baby died and buried the baby in their land over night.
220
Poonthalir, a non-governmental organization set up in 1998 to deal with female infanticide by creating
awareness, has rescued 489 babies in the 86 hamlets its program extends to but could not save 113 girl babies
from being killed in the last two years. Poonthalir has recorded 113 cases in the hamlets between mid-2000
and 2001 the list is available with Frontline.

P 287
Later, both Mr. Raman and Kamala responded to the gospel and accepted Jesus Christ as
their Lord and savior. They were excommunicated by their relatives and Kamala gave birth
to two daughters and now they live very happily. The gospel transformed their lives and
the girls are now studying in the college.
Case. 12.
Lakshmi, is twenty years old, and lives in the rural village near Madurai. She already had
one daughter, and upon the arrival of a second girl, Lakshmi saw no other option but to kill
this second daughter. Both her mother in law and her husband forced her to kill the baby.
Lakshmi admits that she refused to nurse the newborn for the three days of her short life.
To silence the infant’s cries of hunger, with the help of an old lady (by paying her Rs. 200)
she fed the infant a poisonous combination of sap and castor oil and the baby died. When
asked how she could have taken her own child’s life, Lakshmi, now 28, answered, “A
daughter is always liabilities. How can I bring up a second? Instead of suffering the way I
do, I thought it was better to get rid of her.” How ever she continues to live in guilt
consciousness.
The study reveals that
1. Nearly three-fourths of the women knew about the sex determination test, and female
feticide is favored both in rural and urban areas.
2. Women are aware of the health problems resulting from such decisions but favor it for
socio-economic reasons: a girl is considered as a liability on account of dowry; her
education does not add anything to the income of her parental family. A son is preferred
for social as well as economic reasons.
3. The socioeconomic pressures are such that even those who consider abortion to be a sin
are prepared to abort a female fetus.

P 288
4. The case studies among the middle class women reveal that they are obsessed with the
idea of a two child family and that one of the two children must be a son.
The study makes it clear that a woman, whether educated or uneducated, rich or poor, is
not conscious of her own identity. She is unable to recognize her role in resolving her
problems because of the prevalence of systems like dowry. In the end, it may be concluded
that the banning of this test, though an essential and urgently required step, is not the final
solution to the problem. In the long run, social prejudices against women have to be
overcome by improving her overall status in society.
While tubectomy is a fairly popular means of family planning in the State as a whole,
surprisingly higher- order births are widespread in the area. This appears to be related to
the fear of poor follow-up and post-operative care after tubectomy procedures, and a poor
health-care system in general. 221.
State Social Welfare told the people: "Do not worry if you have baby girls. Leave them
with the government and we will bring them up." The message, probably unwittingly, is to
keep producing babies; you could keep the boys and turn over the girls to the government.
The case studies further reveals the reasons for female infanticide are: dowry, bringing up
of a female child is expensive, ceremonies connected with the females are expensive and
mothers do not like their female children to suffer like them. The way out for female
infanticide can be: adoption (promoting Indian adoption), abolition of dowry system, more
employment opportunities for women, compulsory education for children and development
of community root workers as multi skilled resource persons.
221
An indicator of the poor health infrastructure is the number of hospital and dispensary beds per lakh
population, which is 39 in Salem district, compared to 95 in the State as a whole and 110 in the country. The
cradle baby scheme which makes getting rid of unwanted girl babies easy and along with a strong son
preference acts as a major disincentive to family planning.

P 289
Bethel Agricultural Fellowship, Danishpet. Salem.

Baby Rescue Home
Babies Rescued from Female Infanticide.
( Photographed on 15.1.2007)

P 290

P 291

P 292

P 293
Appendix.
This section collects only few samples of the news paper report on the female infanticide
in October and November 2006.
Report 1.
The Hindu newspaper (Ciambatore, 11.10.2006, page 7) stated as, in spite of the
concentrated efforts by the Government the infant mortality rate is on the rise in
Krishnagiri district. The report further states that there are 37 female infant deaths in 27
villages. In some other block of the district, it was reported that 45 female infant deaths in
38 villages. The report further identified seven blocks where female infanticide is
widespread in the district.
Report 2

P 294
The Hindu (Madurai, 3.10.2006, p.3) reports that in Patran, Patiala district of Punjab,a 30
feet deep well yielded 50 dead female fetuses. The location of the well near a clinic was
not accidental. The report begins and ends as, “some parts of India may be shining. But
they shine mostly for boys”. The report identifies poverty and high dowry as the reasons
for the practice of female infanticide.
Report 3
The above news is an example for the barbaric act of female infanticide, reported in the
local Tamil news paper (Kalai Kathir, Salem, 7.11.2006, p.2). In Dharmapuri town a new
born female child was packed in a plastic bag and thrown in to the dust bin. The street dogs
were trying to eat the package were fighting and running in the street with the bag and
blood shedding on the way made the public to arrest the event. The report states that this is
the fourth such event in this area during this month.
Report 4

P 295
A Tamil news paper Kalai Kathir (Salem, 14.11.2006, p.2) reports of a female child (18
months old) was thrown into the dust bin. The cause for the death is under investigation,
this is another evidence to show the value of life, very specially the female child is nothing
but dust. This incident took place at Tanjure in Tamilnadu. This incident took place on 14
th November, which is celebrated as the children’s day.
Report 5222
Investigation on female infanticide
222
Photographs: www.elahemassumi.com/femalep.html - 8k

P 296
Interview Questionnaires (Type One)

A Study on Female Infanticide in selected Villages of Tamilnadu.
(For Direct Respondents: Family and Parents)
Dear Sir.
Greetings
As I am undertaking the research on Female Infanticide, I request your help to kindly fill
out this questionnaire and I assure you that the information sheared in the questionnaire
will be confidential. Thanking you.
Yours sincerely
Pari Titus.
01. Name of the Respondent ___________________________________

02. Name of the Village ________________________________________
03. Name of the District ________________________________________
04. Age of the Respondent
Below 18
19-20
21-22
23-24
25-26
27-29
30-32
Above 33
05. Religion: Hindu/ Muslim/ Christian/

06. Caste
Thevar/Kallar
Gounder
Vannier
Pariyar
Others (Specify)
07. Educational Qualification
Uneducated
PrimarySchool
Middle School
12 th Standard
Other (Specify)
08. Occupation
Daily wage
Vendor
Farmer

P 297
Business
Other (specify)
09. Details about the Family Members

S.No Name Age Sex Relation Edu Occupation Income Remarks
10. Type of Family

Joint Family
Extended Family
Unit Family
11. Type of House
Hut
Farm House in the field
Terraced
Other (Specify)
12. Do you live in

Own House
Rented house
Leased house
Any Other (Specify)
13. Do you have any other source of income? YES/NO

• If Yes Specify:
14. Do you own any assets or property? YES/NO
• If yes specify:
15. Do you borrow money? YES/NO.
a. If yes the reasons for Borrowing.
Medical Needs
Family Maintenance

P 298
Dowry
Any Other (Specify)
b. How much did you barrow in 2005

Below Rs.2,000
Rs. 2,000- 5,000
Rs. 5,000- Rs. 10,000
Above Rs. 10,000
c. Who lends the money

Bank
Pawn Brokers
Many Lender
Any Other (Specify)
d. What is the interests to pay

1- 5 %
5- 10 %
Above 10 %.
Meter Interest
Any Other (Specify)
e. Do you pay the interest regularly YES/NO

• If No specify the reason
16. Do you save money? YES/NO
a. If Yes how much in a year.
Below Rs.2,000
Rs. 2,000- 5,000
Rs. 5,000- Rs. 10,000
Above Rs. 10,000
b. How do you utilize the money
Education
Medical
Dowry
Ceremonies (Wedding)
Any Other (Specify)
17. Does your child go to school regularly? Yes/No If no give reasons.

18. Which child do you prefer?
Boy
Girl

P 299
Both
A. The reasons for preferring Boy/ Girl/ Both child

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
B. Which child is preferred more in the family
Boy
Girl
Both
(i). Reasons for their preference.______________________________________.
C. Which child is preferred more in the community
Boy
Girl
Both
(i). Reasons for their preference.___________________________________
19. Which is the retest challenge in bringing up a girl child?
Education
Marriage
Any other (Specify)
20. How do you feel the female community in your village?
Dignified
Suppressed
No gender equality
Any other (Specify)
21. Are Women harassed at Home? Yes/No

A. If Yes, By Whom
Parents
Husbands
In Laws
Any Other (Specify)
B. Reasons for harassment

Dowry
Giving Birth to a Girl Child
No Property Inheritance
Any Other (Specify)
22. At what age did you get married?

P 300
Before 18
19-20
21-22
23-24
25-26
27-29
30-32
After 33
A. At what age did you give birth to your first child

Before 18
19-20
21-22
23-24
25-26
27-29
30-32
After 33
B. What did you feel when you give birth to a girl child?
Desired
Pity
Unhappy/Happy
Any Other (Specify)
.
C. Give reason for the above? ____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
23. Was there any death of female child in your family? Yes/No
A. If Yes, What is the reason?
___________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
24. Do you know about the term Female Infanticide? Yes/No
25. Was there any female Infanticide in your village? Yes/No
A. If yes, give reason.
Fear of Transfer of Property
Poverty and Unemployment
Cost of rearing and marriage are high

P 301
Lack of reach of Government Program to Woman and Girls
Low Economic Utility
Any other (Specify)
26. How do you come to know the sex of the baby?

Scanning
Myth
Astrology
Village Nurse
Any other (Specify)
27. Have you ever practiced female infanticide? Yes/No

A. If yes give reasons.
B. For which child you go in for Female feticide/Infanticide.
28. Opinion on Killing the Female Child
Common Practice
Sinful and Crude
A Practice arising out of low status of Woman
Practice due to failure of Government Policy of preventive efforts
Any other (Specify)
29. Decision Makers of Female Infanticide.
Husband
Husband’s Mother
Husband’s Father
Mother’s Parents
Mother of the baby

P 302
Village Dai / Relatives
Poojari /Astrologer
Any other (Specify)
30. Economic Reasoning for Female Infanticide.
Cost of rearing and marriage are high.
Low Economic Utility.
Any other (Specify)
31. People who carry out Female Infanticide
Husband
Husband’s Mother
Husband’s Father
Mother’s Parents
Mother
Village Dai
Relatives
Any other (Specify)
32. Reasons Given after Killing the Child
As per astrological prediction of doom to the family
Expected Male Child

P 303
Ill Health of the Child
Economic Drain to the Family
Any other (Specify)
33. Reasons for not using Family planning
Craze for Male Child
Not Interested / Not Aware
Lack of Motivation
Husbands sexual pleasure
Lack of Reach of Family plan Method.
Any other (Specify)
34. Ordinal position of the child killed
First female Child
Second female Child
Third female Child
Fourth female Child
35. Method of female infanticide

By Poison
Milk of Calotropis .
Stuffing Paddy Grain in the throat
More Milk & Put the Child upside down.
Starving the Child
Salt water
Cover the Child with wet cloth
Scan & Feticide Any other

P 304
Any other (Specify)
36. Social reasons for female infanticide
Born to unwedded Mothers /Rape
Dowry
Mother’s Health
Preference to Males
Perception of Social Burden
Deterioration of status of Women/Girls
Handicapped /Deserted
Lack of social Action against
Caste Influence
Lack of Protection to Young girls
Any other (Specify)
37. Do you face any problem when you refuse to kill your female Child? Yes/No
A. If Yes the nature of the problem
Persecution
Fight at Home
Divorce/ remarriage
Any Other
38. Are you aware of the steps taken by the government/NGOs to abolish female
infanticide? Yes /No.
A. If yes state the difficulties involved faced in the program.
_________________________________________________________________________
39. What kind of assistance do you need to abolish female infanticide?
_________________________________________________________________________
40. General Remarks
_________________________________________________________________________
Date Signature

P 305
Interview Questions (Type TWO)

(For Indirect Respondent: Doctors, Thasildars, Nurses, Teachers and Health
Workers)
Dear Sir.
Greetings
As I am undertaking the research on Child welfare, I request your help to give your input
from your experience. Kindly fill out this questionnaire and I assure you that the
information sheared in the questionnaire will be confidential.
Thanking you.
With anticipation
Yours sincerely
Pari Titus.
1. Name of the Respondent. ____________________________________

2. Name of the Village ________________________________________
4. Nature of your work ________________________________________
5. Years of service ___________________________________________
6. Opinion on killing the female child
Common Practice
Sinful and Crude
Any other (Specify)
7. Decision makers of female infanticide.
Husband
Husband’s Mother
Husband’s Father

P 306
Mother’s Parents
Mother of the baby
Village Dai /Relatives
Poojaris / Astrologer
Any other
8. Economic reasoning for female infanticide
Low Economic Utility.
Any other
9. People who carry out female infanticide
Husband
Husband’s Mother
Husband’s Father
Mother’s Parents
Mother
Village Dai/ Relatives
Any other
10. Reasons given after killing the child
Expected Male Child

P 307
Any other
11. Reasons for not using family planning
Not Interested /Not Aware
Lack of Motivation
Husbands Sexual pleasure
Lack of Reach of Family plan Method.
Fear of Health Problems
Any other (Specify).
12. Ordinal position of the child killed.
First Female Child
Second Female Child
Third Female Child
Fourth Female Child
By Poison
Milk of Calotropis
More Milk & Put the Child upside down
Starving the Child
Salt water

P 308
Scan & Feticide
Born to unwedded Mothers/Rape
Dowry
Mother’s Health
Preference to Males
Handicapped
Lack of Community & social Action against FI
Caste Influence
Fear of loosing Family Dignity
Date
Signature

P 309
Interview Questions (Type THREE)

(For Indirect Respondent: NGOs)
Dear Sir.
Greetings
As I am undertaking the research on Female Infanticide, I request your help to give your
input from your experience. Kindly fill out this questionnaire and I assure you that the
Thanking you.
With anticipation
Yours sincerely
Pari Titus.
1. Name of the Respondent ____________________________________

3. Name of the Organization____________________________________
4. Years of service ________________________
5. Nature of work to the challenges of female infanticide
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________-
Common Practice
Sinful and Crude
Any other (Specify)
Husband
Husband’s Mother

P 310
Husband’s Father
Mother’s Parents
Mother of the Baby
Village Dai / Relatives
Poojari /Astrologer
Any other (Specify)
8. Economic reasoning for female infanticide.
Any other (Specify)
9. People who carryout female infanticide.
Husband
Husband’s Mother
Husband’s Father
Mother’s Parents
Mother
Village Dai
Relatives
Any other (Specify)

P 311
Expected Male Child
Any other (Specify)
Not Interested / Not Aware/ Consequences of health problems
Lack of Motivation
Husbands Sexual Pleasure
Lack of Reach of Family plan Method
Any other (Specify)
First female Child
Second female Child
Third female Child
Fourth female Child

By Poison
Milk of Calotropis
More Milk & Put the Child upside down
Starving the Child
Salt water

P 312
Scan & Feticide

Born to unwedded Mothers
Dowry
Mother’s Health
Preference to Males
Handicapped
Lack of Community & social Action against FI
Caste Influence
Lack of Protection to Young girls /Rape
Any other (Specify)
Date
Signature

P 313
Interview Questions (Type: FOUR)

(For Indirect Respondent: Churches, Mission, Pastors, and Evangelists)
Dear Sir.
Greetings
As I am undertaking the research on Female Infanticide, I request your help to give your
input from your experience. Kindly fill out this questionnaire and I assure you that the
Thanking you.
With anticipation
Yours sincerely
Pari Titus.
1. Name of the Respondent _________________________________

2. Name of the Village _____________________________________
3. Name of the District _____________________________________
4. Name of the Organization_________________________________
5. Years of service ________________________
6. Nature of work to Female Infanticide
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Common Practice
Sinful and Crude
Any other
Husband
Husband’s Mother

P 314
Husband’s Father
Mother’s Parents
Mother of the Baby
Village Dai/ Relatives
Priest/ Astrologer
Any other (Specify)
9. Economic reasoning for female infanticide
10. People who carry out female infanticide
Husband
Husband’s Mother
Husband’s Father
Mother’s Parents
Mother of the Baby
Village Dai
Relatives
Any other

P 315
Expected Male Child
Any other (specify)
Not Interested /Not Aware
Lack of Motivation
Husband’s Sexual pleasure
Lack of Reach of Family plan Method
Consequences on Health
Any Other (Specify)
First female Child
Second female Child
Third female Child
Fourth female Child
By Poison
Milk of Calotropis
Starving the Child

P 316
Salt water .
Scan & Feticide
Any other (Specify)
Born to unwedded Mothers/Rape
Dowry
Mother’s Health
Preference to Males
Handicapped
Caste Influence
Any other (Specify)
Date
Signature

Pari Titus Thesis

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P1

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4.2. Historical background of Dharmapuri District 44

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1.2. Female infanticide in Islam 77

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4. Principles in developing the patterns for partnership in mission 110

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1.2. Bhagya Lakshmi scheme 166

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4. Biblical perspectives on Family 209

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male and female populations in the country.

to put an end to these practices, female infanticide continues.

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and in Tamilnadu. The status of human development in relation to employment, poverty,

end to better understand the rational behind the practice.

challenges of female infanticide.

Karuthamma will be presented to develop the partnership in holistic mission.

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intervention plans with special reference to “Society of Integrated Social Upliftment “

holistic mission will be summed up in this chapter.

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projects both by governmental and non-governmental organizations have geared to address

in developing holistic mission partnership.

1. Statement of the Problem

In the light of the conceptual, sociological framework and of a biblical understanding of

partnerships and identify the implications for Christian mission.

2. Elaboration of the Problem

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technology, resulting in the lower status of females in society.

infancy by female infanticide.

of Tamilnadu. Female Infanticide in Tamilnadu, South India, has recently received

widespread attention within India and abroad.

observed the mushrooming of holistic mission projects with an indispensable social

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Christian and church responses to the challenges of female infanticide in India.

identify the socio-economic challenges to mission with special reference to female

the mission of the church.

4.1. Research Objectives

2. To study the biblical understanding of creation, abortion, and family

of children in Madurai, Salem and Dharmapuri

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4. To present the conceptual guidelines on the impact of female infanticide on parents,

4.2. Research Questions

Tamilnadu and their contributions to female infanticide?

2. What is the biblical teaching on creation, abortion, and family?

care of children in, Salem, Dharmapuri and Madurai?

in meeting the need in the mission of the church?

The missiological implications of the cultural and religious challenges of female

multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, multi-religious and multi-racial for ages. In spite of her

the vision of the Hindutva ideology is considered an enemy of the nation.

"ethnocentrism.” This approach to mission called "The Ethnocentric Model of Mission

ethnocentrism with revolt and developed an insider’s view of culture.

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Hence, today there is an urgent need to go beyond "ethnocentrism" and "relativism" in

to mankind will always be the ultimate goal of a Christian mission.

with another challenging fundamentalism. It is not to respond to Hindu fundamentalism

with Christian fundamentalism, rather fundamentally we have to have new approaches. In

rather Christians must use the inclusive approach in their mission.

challenges of female infanticide.

the Christian Mission from an ecclesiological center to a people-centered mission.

Christian missions as witness to God's mission needs to be understood from the