Satyameva Jayate has Jaipur sarpanch up against foeticide

Jaipur Aamir Khan’s highly acclaimed “Satyameva Jayate” has inspired a sarpanch in a Rajasthan village to register police cases against women and families who go for tests to detect and abort a female foetus. “Illegal sex determination is rampant in the Shekhawati region (Jhunjhunu, Churu and Sikar districts),” sarpanch Randheer Singh of Budania village told IANS. The village, some 200 km from here, is home to some 5,000 people. [caption id=“attachment_320285” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Inspired by Amir Khan’s TV show a sarpanch in a Rajasthan village has started filing police complaints against couples indulging in sex-selective abortion.”]  [/caption] Randheer Singh said a six-member committee had been formed to keep a tab on pregnant women. “After watching Aamir Khan’s TV show ‘Satyameva Jayate’ on female foeticide, I felt that awareness in Rajasthan is not enough,” he said. “Checking female foeticide at the village level is necessary to save girl children.” He said that auxiliary nurses and midwives know about almost every pregnant woman in villages. “If a woman is found involved in illegal sex determination and abortion of a girl child, an FIR (First Information Report) will be filed against her with the police,” Singh said. “If she is forced to abort by her in-laws, similar action will be taken against them also,” he said. According to the 2011 census, Rajasthan has 883 girls in the 0-6 age group for every 1,000 boys. The child sex ratio in 2001 was 909. The Rajasthan government has taken several measures to end illegal sex determination tests. It has hiked the amount of money given to people who complain about errant ultrasound clinics. Aamir Khan, in his programme telecast May 6 that drew record audiences countrywide, highlighted a sting operation done seven years ago by two journalists to expose growing female foeticide in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. IANS