Woman killed for giving birth to girl

Dinesh Manhotra & Sanjay Pathak

Tribune Reporters

Jammu/Kathua, Nov 25

Amid the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign to improve sex ratio in the country, a woman was alleged killed by her in-laws in a remote village of Kathua for giving birth to a girl child. A case in this regard has been registered at the Malhar police station of Billawar tehsil of Kathua under Section 174 of the CrPC. However, senior police officers were tightlipped over the incident and were waiting for the post-mortem examination report.

According to sources, Mariyam Begum, 26, wife of Ishfaq Ahmed, had delivered a girl child last week. As this was her second girl child, she was reportedly tortured by her in-laws for it. On Wednesday morning, Mariyam’s in-laws informed her father Mohammad Jameel that his daughter had died due to an illness. As Jameel reached Mariyam’s home, he smelt a foul play and later found out that his daughter had been killed by her in-laws for giving birth to a second girl child. As the incident took place in a remote area, the authorities got information about the gruesome act only on Thursday evening.

A senior police officer said the initial investigation established that the woman was murdered. He, however, said things would become clear after the investigation.

Shockingly, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign was introduced in the year 2014 in 100 select districts, including Kathua, to address the issue of declining child sex ratio.

Only on Thursday, the Kathua administration had claimed that the programme, “Pahal: Ek Kadam Nari Samman Ki Aur” was witnessing a positive trend and sex ratio in the district had improved from 862 to 873 in the past two years.