Indian Priest Urges Religious Leaders to ‘Save’ Girls : 27th Sep 10
A Catholic priest has urged Indian religious leaders to help protect girl children following news reports of a man who abandoned his newborn daughter in a gutter. “Religious leaders, be they Christian, Muslim, Hindu or others,” must provide their followers “with the necessary attitude and courage to save and celebrate the girl child,” said Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash.
His appeal followed news reports of police arresting a man in Gujarat state on earlier this month for abandoning his newborn girl. The reports said Narottam Devipujak, a vegetable vendor, had vowed to offer a male goat to his family deity if a son were born to him. However, he swore he would “sacrifice” the child if it were a girl. On September 2, a day after the child’s birth, he left her in a gutter.
“This is surely not a one-off incident to highlight the negative attitude that exists in society toward the girl child,” said Father Prakash.
The priest, who is based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s commercial capital, noted that the child sex ratio in the state is 883 females to 1,000 males as against the national ratio of 920 to 1,000.
Despite efforts to address this imbalance, Indian society continues to prefer boys to girls, he said. And this leads to numerous abortions of girls. In Hindu religious practice, a son often has the responsibility of performing the last rites for family members. While sons inherit family wealth, girls are considered a burden as they need to be married off with dowries.
Father Prakash said the Catholic Church in India has decided to celebrate September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, as “Girl-child Day”. Ocan News.
Source: http://www.familyandlife.org/Abortion-and-Embryo/1899/9/13.html
