Volume : 1, Issue : 2, July - 2012

Female Foeticide and PNDT Act: Issues and Challenges

Dr. Anu, Dr. Pawan Kumar

Abstract :

The discrimination against female starts from the womb and ends up in the tomb. Female foeticides occurs when the foetus is killed while it is still in the womb of the mother after finding that it is female. As abortions before 20 weeks of pregnancy are legal, female foeticide could not be banned perse. The Government of India enacted the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse Act) 1994 to deal with the situation. The main problem in implementation is that in majority of the cases, both the service providers and the service seekers operate in agreement to defeat the provisions of the Act. Therefore it is by a combination of monitoring, education campaigns, change in the mind set of community and effective legal implementation that the deep–seated attitudes and practices against female foeticide can be eroded from the society.