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Three foetuses found near pond in Odisha village; probe ordered
Police officials said it is difficult to ascertain whether the foetuses were male or female and only a post-mortem report can bring out the truth
The bodies of three foetuses were found near a pond in a village in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district on Friday morning amid speculations that they could be victims of sex determination tests.
Sub-inspector of Dhenkanal Sadar police station Subash Chandra Nayak said it is difficult to ascertain whether the foetuses were male or female and only a post mortem report can bring out the truth.
“We have to see whether any local villager did it or some hospitals nearby are responsible,” said Nayak.
Udayendu Mishra, director of Organisation for Voluntary Action, an NGO in the district expressed shock at the incident.
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“The idea of nurturing a pregnancy for nine months and finally having the baby killed and dumped by a pond is despicable. More and more couples are determining the sex of their unborn child with the help of unethical doctors. This is the reason why sex ratio in Odisha is declining over the years,” said Mishra.
The National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), the report of which was released last year, found the state has 894 female children for every 1000 males despite central and state government initiatives for protecting the girl child.
In 2015-16, the child sex ratio in Odisha was estimated at 932.
According to the NFHS-5, the decline in the child sex ratio was reported from urban and rural areas.
In Dhenkanal district, it plummeted to 895 from 1044 in NFHS-4.
In comparison to urban areas, the decline was more in rural areas where the number of female children dropped from 926 in 2015-16 to 855 in 2020-21.
In urban areas, the ratio declined from 966 in 2015-16 to 950 in 2020-21.
