Agra specially-abled youths campaign against female foeticide

Agra, Oct 5 (ANI): Three specially-abled youths took up an initiative to spread awareness amongst people against female foeticide in Agra.

"We felt good when these people said that girl child should be saved and are not meant to be killed. If it happens then marriages will never happen and another thing is to stop taking and giving dowry during the marriages," said Kamla, a resident.

These men started their journey from Ambala planning to visit almost ten states with the messages against female foeticide.

"Our main motive will be to make most of the people aware against female foeticide. I also want to say that this female foeticide mainly happens because of dowry," said Deepak, a physically disabled volunteer from Ambala.

During their journey, these youths visit every nook and corner of the state to spread their message. According to them, female foeticide is consequent to dowry.

According to a recent report by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), up to 50 million girls and women are missing from India' s population as a result of systematic gender discrimination in India.

In India, there are less than 93 women for every 100 men in the population. The accepted reason for such a disparity is the practice of female infanticide in India, prompted by the existence of a dowry system which requires the family to pay out a great deal of money when a female child is married.

For a poor family, the birth of a girl child can signal the beginning of financial ruin and extreme hardship. (ANI)