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Fetal scans to make sure that the next child is not a girl, is an illegal but common practice in India today. Figures suggest that around 1 million girls are being aborted every year due to sex selection.

Transcript

Sex Selection of Babies in India Vaijanti: I had had the prince of my dreams would come and take me away. I had a lot of dreams in my heart just like in the movies. I thought love was a good thing. My marriage would be made in heaven. My friends would dress me on my wedding day. I had all these hopes. But now, I think of love as a betrayal. What happened to you? Interviewer: What happened to you? Vaijanti: I first gave birth to a daughter, Shradha. Then I had an abortion. My in-laws got it done forcibly. The astrologer had predicted that I would have five girls. So with that in mind, my mother-in-law forced me to have an abortion. The third pregnancy was also a girl. They insisted I abort the fetus but I refused. I came back home to my mother. My mother asked what the matter was. I told her they wanted a son. I said that I would give birth to my daughter. For us, women are symbols of strength, like the Warrior Queen of Jhansi. I saved her, and today she is alive. Host: Educated only till secondary school and without any means of livelihood, the odds are stacked against Vaijanti. It’s a tough choice for her: should she walk out on her husband after what he and his family have done to her, or should she return back to his house? She’s still to make her decision -- and she faces an agonizing dilemma over the future of her marriage. Interviewer: Do you still love your husband? Vaijanti: Yes I still love him. I would like to go back to him. I asked him to come over but instead he said, ‘Give me a divorce.’ I said, ‘How can I give you a divorce when we haven’t discussed anything?’ I said, ‘I will not let you off so easily. You have spoilt my life and I will not let you ruin someone else’s. Now, I am living like a widow. What will happen to my life?’ Host: Fetal scans to make sure the next child is not a girl is an illegal but common practice in India today. Figures suggest that around one million girls are being aborted every year due to sex selection. Experts warn that the next census could reveal a shocking gender imbalance. So, is India really a country where girls have a stake in the future? Vaijanti is taking the first step in finding out -- filing a criminal case against her husband and in-laws in court. They deny illegal abortions or sex selection. She’s unsure whether to press on. Tahmul Hussain: Tell me Vaijanti, would you like to compromise with such a murderer? Vaijanti: Yes and no -- I’m not sure. Tahmul Hussain: How can you say such a thing being a woman? You are ruining your life like this, your mother and brother are supporting you and with their help you should have the courage to stand on your feet. Can you do that? Vaijanti: When I see their support, I do feel I can go ahead. Host: Vaijanti’s situation symbolizes the misery and dilemmas faced by millions of ordinary women in India forced by their husbands’ families to bear only sons. Despite huge economic constraints Vaijanti’s own family have backed her fully -- unusual in most traditional homes. Bishambar Dayal: In India, everything is veiled in hypocrisy. They show devotion to a stone idol but not a living woman. They consider stone idols as goddesses. They offer them flowers and pray to them. But living women, they consider to be nothing even though they are the ones who give birth to future generations and nurture them. Lalita Dayal: I had never thought that my daughter would have to bear so much grief. I’ve got fed up of this world. After suffering and struggling so much, I’m really exhausted. Host: In Agra, Vaijanti meets other women like her who’ve been abused by their in-laws, some fighting cases for the last 20 years. Susheela Yadav: I got married in 1986 in Mathura. My husband was in the civil service. His mother lived with him and the marriage began on a bad note as it involved constant dowry demands. After one and a half years, I gave birth to this daughter. They made it an issue that I had produced a girl child. So they just abandoned us in the hospital. Neha Singh: My mother-in-law really got after us. She wanted the first born to be a boy. She said, ‘Who gives birth to daughters? They should be strangled as soon as they are born. Twenty years later you will have to pay a huge dowry to marry them off. There are such good techniques available, get rid of the daughters right away,’ she would say. They want dowry, they want a son, they want an educated daughter-in-law who will slave in the house like a maid but she must also work outside and earn. They want everything. [Boatman singing]: We cannot withstand the fury of a storm. This is not a story about strangers. It is a story about our near and dear one. If the boat rocks mid-stream, the boatman brings us to the shore. But, if the boatman sinks the boat, who will take us ashore?