Court asks Rajasthan to explain action against female child killing

Jaipur, March 30 (IANS) Taking a serious note of the recovery of two new born girls' bodies here over two constrictive days, the Rajasthan High Court Friday summoned Jaipur's Commissioner of Police B.L. Soni and sought explanation over action taken in the cases of female foeticide and infanticide, a lawyer said.

The bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma summoned the top police officer over a petition filed by lawyer S.K. Gupta.

"The commissioner of police told the court that a serious investigation has been launched in the cases related to recovery of the infant girls' bodies. He also told the court that First Information Reports (FIRs) will be registered under section 302 of Indian Penal Code for homicide," Gupta told IANS.

He added that the court has fixed Monday as the next date of hearing in the matter.

The bodies of infant girls had been recovered from Vidhyadhar Nagar and Shashtri Nagar areas of the city Tuesday and Wednesday.

Rajasthan has been in the news due to increasing cases of female foeticide and infanticide.

Poverty, ignorance about family planning and high dowry have been reported as the possible causes for this crime.

According to Census 2011, Rajasthan has 883 girls in the age of 0-6 for every 1,000 boys. The child sex ratio in 2001 was 909.

Alarmed over the skewed sex ratio, the state government recently announced steps to curb pre-natal sex determination tests at ultrasound clinics.

The steps include increasing the number of health department inspection teams and equipping them with devices like hidden cameras and voice recorders.

The government has also announced Rs.1 lakh money to a person who complains about errant ultrasound clinics.

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