Woman poisoned for refusing to abort girl

PARENTS ALLEGE SHE WAS HARASSED AND ASSAULTED FOR DOWRY EVER SINCE SHE GOT MARRIED LAST YEAR

A 24-year-old pregnant woman was poisoned to death allegedly by her husband and in-laws in West Bengal’s East Midnapore district after she refused to terminate the girl child in her womb.

Rubina Bibi of Kotbar village, married barely for a year, was seven months pregnant. She died at a government hospital in Tamluk town on Tuesday night, two days after poison was allegedly shoved down her throat. Police said on Wednesday a case has been registered against her husband Sheikh Rejabul, and his family members are on the run.

Killing and abandoning baby girls are common practice in large parts of India, where a preference for sons runs deep. But the mother’s murder is rare.

Rubina’s death also underscored that sex determination tests were being carried out on the sly. India has banned doctors, hospitals and their staff from revealing a child’s gender during prenatal examinations.

It is aimed at preventing the practice of female foeticide, rampant in a patriarchal society obsessed with a male heir.

Rajabul allegedly took his wife for an ultrasonography test to know the gender of the foetus.

After the examination, the husband allegedly told Rubina to either get a dowry of Rs 1 lakh from her parents or abort her pregnancy.

“After they started torturing my daughter we gave them Rs 30,000 but they demanded more and asked my daughter to get rid of the child. She refused and they killed her,” said Sakina Bibi, the woman’s mother.

Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar was arrested on Wednesday while she was heading towards Dhar from Indore where she was discharged from a hospital on Wednesday.

She was arrested near Peethampur for breach of peace, produced before the sub-divisional magistrate and sent to Dhar jail.

Talking to media persons, she said the government was treating her like a terrorist. “NBA agitation doesn’t lead to any disturbance but police presence in submergence area does.”

Several Congress workers assembled outside the jail and blamed the administration for atrocities against NBA activists.

Police said in a release it had information that Patkar may “provoke those observing fast...who may take administrative officials and staff hostage”.