A doctor’s fight against female foeticide

Sometimes you see so much of negativity around you that when something positive happens, you tend to disbelieve or dismiss even. This is true specifically in the case of Indian female.  

So when there are increasing cases of killing the girls at the hands of doctors, even before their birth, this comes as real good news. Or rather an extraordinary gesture! It is genuinely nice, even if as an exception.

There is a hospital called Medicare Multi specialty Hospital in Hadapsar, Pune and there works a doctor by the name Dr. Ganesh Rakh.

Contrary to the malpractices of sex determination and female foeticide, this doctor actually has unique way to propagate the awareness and enthusiasm about the girl child. He does not charge his fee and the hospital bills only if a girl child is born.

He has not charged anything for the deliveries of 135 newborn girls till now. He started this initiative a year back. Despite the naysayers he continued this with gusto.

So there is no fee from the time a lady expecting delivery of her baby is admitted to his hospital, till she is discharged. In fact the guys at the hospital try to celebrate birth of a girl child by distributing sweets.

What more? Apparently as many as 2400 doctors, from Pune, Solapur and Beed got in contact with this doctor to express solidarity, after reports in Pune Mirror, Sakaal Times, CNN IBN and other media. And these gynecologists and radiologists promised to do their best to prevent sex determination and female foeticide. They have decided to follow Dr. Rakh and give concessional medical treatment to families in which girls are born.

I mean in the last so many months, we have been hearing a lot of female foeticide, discrimination of girls, crime against women and what not. So when one gets to know about something like this one has a feeling that all is not wrong with our society.

There is some concrete hope! 

Despicable and outrageous last part of 2012

So this is the end of the year 2012. Far from happy end though!

A 23 year old paramedical student was brutally raped in a bus in New Delhi. She died after 14 days battle for life in the hospitals in Delhi and Singapore.

And that death is, in many ways, an eye-opener for government, politicians, society, and everybody.

There was and is a sense of anger and helplessness. There were protests. And the political class of this country, did not even reckon the protests appropriately, leave alone the possibility of the best way it should have been handled.

BJP and others demanded a special session of parliament.

Congress on the other hand, wasted another opportunity, to rise to the situation and deliver.      

For as wide-ranging and diverse sections of the society as in our great nation, one thing is, rather one disturbing common thing is, crime against women!

The key issue is ''How do we treat girls/ladies?" And we as a society need to introspect and act. Sometimes I feel ashamed of being part of this society, this may sound harsh, but true nevertheless.

Even last article of this very blog site was on similar topic.

And going by the way, things are happening, it is disgusting. It is horrible. We have goddesses, we revere 'Durga' and many more. And then we have these cases of molestations and rapes.

There are rapes happening almost every few hours in some part of country.

National Crime Records Bureau maintains the fact that more than 650 rape cases have been reported in the Delhi and National Capital Region, in 2012.

India stands third with reference to rape cases. 18,359 rape cases were registered in India in the first three quarters of this year.

The conviction rate for rape cases is only 26 per cent.

The prosecution and penalty - If we go by the law, in India, there is provision of seven years imprisonment and a possibility of life-imprisonment also along with monitory fine. 

Across the world - in UK, there is imprisonment of six months to ten years. In US there are different provisions in different states - imprisonment from five years to 99 years!

In Russia there is imprisonment of 15 years, in Sweden it is ten years.

In China and Pakistan, there is provision of death penalty.

Now in India, there is a proposal of draft of amendment to laws pertaining to crime against women. If news reports are to be believed - there is provision of minimum 30 years of imprisonment and chemical castration.

I think for the perpetrators of this heinous crime against women, there need to be two counters - the fear of law - that fear of punishment and on social level, need to see, respect, and treat women in different way. 

Are we degrading as a society? Are we so insensitive that, we just don't pay attention to rapes/ news of rapes with enough seriousness?

Or worse, have we as a society, taken it for granted, that there will be rapes and murders on almost everyday?

Is there any real deterrent? Or do we need to educate our men and boys in more 'proper'  and 'correct' way so as to inculcate the values and respect for the other gender?

Will 2013 and beyond, be any different? Will there be some sort of change, a positive change?

Big questions. Lets wait for answers.