A biased mindset has been created and perpetuated over the millennia by the patriarchal structure of the Indian society favoring male children over the girl child that has brought about the gender imbalance or sex ratio.

This cultural pressure on the women to give birth to sons is imposed with a preconceived notion that a male child is an “asset” since he can supposedly earn and support the family. On the other hand a daughter is considered as a “liability” since she will eventually be married off to another family, and so will not contribute financially to her parents. The notion is further underscored by the burden of raising a dowry – although legally banned in India – for a daughter's marriage.

The widespread sex-determination technology available today is being grossly abused leading to selectively aborting female fetuses as a social custom. The familial abuse and violence persists in brutalizing the mother for bearing girls and disobeying the family’s decision to abort the child. In case the mothers disobey the husband’s family decision to abort the female fetus and report it to the authorities, there seems to be none or negligible support. The FIRs are not encouraged and when they do get filed, the judicial system delays the justice or gives a light sentence. It is also ironic that the mother-in-laws who themselves are women are either found a party to such tragedies or totally helpless under the bullying diktats of the patriarchal structure.

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