JUDGEMENT
Kailash Gambhir, J -
(1.)TUM meri beti nahi beta ho (You are not my daughter but my son), a statement often heard by way of giving a compliment to a daughter who has made her parents proud, but look closely and you will find that this ironic statement is nothing but a reinforcement of every stereotype that women have fought against till date. The so called compliment shrouds the deep rooted prejudice that daughter is a liability and a son an asset and only a male child can do his parents proud, it does nothing but perpetuate the gender discrimination which we had started to believe does not exist anymore.
(2.)IT is an open secret that the want of a male child is a one the biggest manifestations of gender discrimination that pervades all sections of the society, whether urban, rural literate, illiterate, rich or poor. It is understandable that in the past, societal conditioning for wanting to have a male child in a time where women were treated as a second class citizen having a deplorable quality of life was the norm of the day, but it is a disheartening fact that what was treated as an obsession in the bygone era still exists and does not only thrive but drives people to go to unimaginable lengths, the case at hand being a prime example.
What monstrosity of a desire would have imbued through the mind of the woman that she was compelled to murder her own daughter -in -law for being unable to give a male heir to the family is unfathomable to this court. Domestic violence, frequent abortions, physical and mental abuse, psychological pressure, all is to be endured like a penance for the sin for failing to birth a male child. What is the reason for this insatiable urge to have a male child? The reasons commonly postulated which come to mind are that the son is the bread winner of the family, the one to perpetuate the lineage of the family, caste or clan or he is the one to give light to the funeral pyre of the parents, but are not all mere hollow beliefs having no real consequences today. The women of this country have fought a long dogged battle to fadeout the gender divide, to break social mores and to overcome social barriers that were regarded as their so called limitations to make a mark in this world, but when viewed from the prism of the reality of the cases like the present one, it all seems to be a mirage. The aim with which progressive legislations such as the PNDT are passed every now to curb such social evils becomes toothless in the face of such ghastly acts. It is a scientific fact that the male chromosome is responsible for determining the sex of the child, why is then such savagery reserved for the women who have been granted the privilege to procreate and to continue the human race.
(3.)BY this common judgment we propose to decide the four appeals. The challenge in all these appeals filed under section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as 'Cr.P.C.'), is to the judgment dated 31/01/2011 and order on sentence dated 10/02/2011 passed by the learned Trial Court.
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