The painful story of a midwife in rural India who killed newborn girls is just one example of the country’s cruel custom.

The BBC records the experience of Siro who for 30 years gave birth to women knowing from the beginning that she would kill the baby if it was a girl. Under parental pressure he gave them chemicals or suffocated them.

A British media reporter, he met Siro in the countryside of Bihar state in 1996.

The midwife along with four others had been identified by a non-governmental organization as being responsible for the killing of girls in Katihar district.

Hakiya Devi, the oldest of the midwives had said at the time that she had admitted to killing 12 or 13 babies. Another midwife, Dharmi Devi, admitted to killing at least 15-20 girls.

It is impossible to ascertain the exact number of babies they may have killed, given the way the data was collected.

Testimonies

A report published in 1995 by an NGO, based on interviews with midwives, recorded that more than 1,000 little girls were murdered each year in an area with just 35 midwives.

According to the report, Bihar region at that time had over half a million midwives. And the infanticide it was not confined to Bihar.

According to a midwife’s testimony, “the family closed the room and stood behind us with sticks.” They said: “We already have 4-5 daughters. As soon as we marry them we will give a dowry for our girls and starve to death. Now, another girl has been born. Kill her. Who could we complain to? We were scared. If we went to the police, we’d be in trouble. If we spoke, people would threaten us.”

How did the resistance to infanticide begin?

Veteran journalist Amitabh Parashar had done excellent interviews with Indian midwives in the 1990s.

Bringing his experience to BCC and talking about the role of the midwife in rural India which is deeply rooted in the harsh realities of poverty and caste, he is shocked: “The midwives I interviewed belonged to the lower castes in India’s caste hierarchy. Midwifery was a profession passed down to them by mothers and grandmothers. They lived in a world where refusing orders from powerful upper caste families was unthinkable.
The midwife could be promised a sari, a sack of grain, or a small sum of money for killing a baby. Sometimes even that was unpaid. The birth of a boy earned them about 1,000 rupees. The birth of a girl gave him half.”

The custom of dowry

The reason for this imbalance was submerged in the custom of India to give a dowry, they explained. Although the custom was outlawed in 1961, it remained strong in the 90s – and continues to this day.

A dowry can be anything – cash, jewelry, utensils. But for many families, rich or poor, it is the prerequisite of a marriage. And this is what for many still makes the birth of a son a celebration and the birth of a daughter a financial burden.

The preference for boys is reflected nationally. The 2011 census recorded a ratio of 943 women for every 1,000 men. This is however an improvement on the 1990s – in the 1991 census the ratio was 927/1,000.

Midwives’ resistance to infanticide

In 1996, as veteran journalist Amitabh Parashar recounts, a small, silent change had begun. The midwives who once carried out these orders had begun to resist.

This change was instigated by Anila Kumari, a social worker who advocated for women in the villages around Katihar.

Anila’s approach was simple. She asked the midwives: “Would you do this to your own daughter?”

Her question had obviously permeated years of rationalization and denial. The midwives received some financial assistance through community groups and gradually the cycle of violence was broken.