Flung out or abandoned in Mumbai, the girl child suffers

It can’t be a coincidence that whenever a child is kidnapped in the city, it’s a boy, and whenever abandoned, it’s a girl. While the boy from a set of twins was kidnapped from the VN Desai Hospital on October 15, 28-year-old Deepika Parmar flung the girl from her set of twins out of the window at KEM Hospital on Tuesday. While the psychiatric department of the hospital is probing if she suffered from postpartum psychosis, experts question why, in that case, did she not throw both children out?

These instances pave the way for a flashback of other such incidents over the last couple of months. Many hospitals have witnessed attempts to kill the girl child. On February 21, this year, a six cm nail was retrieved from the chest of 17-days-old Pranjali at the Nair Hospital. The nail was carefully wrapped in a piece of cloth, making it easier for it to pass through the girl’s throat.

At the same hospital, just two weeks ago, a family complained that their boy was swapped with a girl child. This suspicion was based on an anonymous phone call made to the family, informing them about the swap. Though the family said they were more than happy to welcome the girl, if she was theirs, the loss of the boy was evident on their faces.

“Usually, we do not see a lot of distress amongst family members if it’s the first child. But, if there is a girl in the family already, the family gets disappointed, and many attempt a third time. This trend has no cure unless society changes”, said Dr Rekha Davar, HOD, Gynaecology , JJ Hospital.

However, not many girls get to go back home with their families, and end up at the various orphanages across the city. It is very rare for these orphanages to find a boy abandoned at their doors. Perhaps, all that girls can do is to wait for change.