Haryana might top the chart in female foeticide, but a 22-year-old woman’s complaint in faraway Andhra Pradesh reveals new depths in cruelty to women who give birth to girls.
On Wednesday night, the woman, who is seven months’ pregnant, approached the Vedulapalli police station in Guntur to lodge a complaint. Her in-laws, she alleged, have been injecting her with HIV-infected blood when they found she was carrying a girl child.
A few months ago, following an ultrasound test in neighbouring Bapatla town, doctors had illegally revealed to the family that she was carrying a girl.
Thereafter, the family had started injecting her regularly with blood on the pretext of ‘treating’ her anaemia. But recently, a medical test she underwent revealed that she had HIV, she alleged.
The woman also said a relative, Nagi Reddy, who is a doctor, had been helping her in-laws get access to the HIV-infected blood and inject her with it.
Her one-year marriage has not been a happy one, she told the police. The family had been continuously harassing her for additional dowry.
Y Ramarao, Bapatla circle inspector of police, said they have registered a case against her husband M Srinivas Reddy, parents-in-law Venkateswar and Tirupatamma and the doctor.
“Investigation is on. The accused are on the run and efforts are on to arrest them,” he said. The woman is undergoing medical tests and the reports are expected within two days, he added.
{{/usCountry}}“Investigation is on. The accused are on the run and efforts are on to arrest them,” he said. The woman is undergoing medical tests and the reports are expected within two days, he added.
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