Abused toddler stirs nation's conscience
Case of 18-month-old Baby Shirin highlights apathy towards young girls
- Ritu Sharma, New Delhi
- India
- June 8, 2012
The abuse of an 18-month-old girl has again brought attention to gender inequality in the subcontinent, with some saying it was the reason she was battered.
Baby Shirin was hospitalized Tuesday with cigarette burns and multiple fractures, and her mother’s boyfriend was arrested. She was discharged from the hospital in Indore in central India the next day, with casts on her tiny hands.
There have been two highly publicized cases of girl-child abuse already this year. The other two baby girls, Falak and Afreen, died.
The incidents highlight the apathy toward girls in India, said Shabnam Hashmi, a social activist based in New Delhi.
“It is very unfortunate and shameful for a country which calls itself modern,” Hashmi said.
According to the 2011 Census, India had 940 females for every 1,000 males and the ratio of girls under the age of five was 944 for 1,000 boys.
The situation is more worrisome in northern India, especially in Punjab and Haryana states that have only 893 and 877 females, respectively, for every 1,000 males.
“Girls continue to be looked down upon as soon as they are born. They are considered a burden and parents start collecting the dowry for their marriage when the girls are very small,” Hashmi said.
The federal government passed a law last month against child abuse that calls for special courts for speedy trial of cases and stringent punishments that go up to life sentences for offenders.
But, unless social mindsets are changed and social evils like dowry are eradicated from society, “I don’t see any improvement in the welfare of young girls,” Hashmi said.
“Nothing will change overnight. Women will have to assert themselves in order to bring about a change in society.”
Related reports
Parliament passes child abuse act
Baby Shirin was hospitalized Tuesday with cigarette burns and multiple fractures, and her mother’s boyfriend was arrested. She was discharged from the hospital in Indore in central India the next day, with casts on her tiny hands.
There have been two highly publicized cases of girl-child abuse already this year. The other two baby girls, Falak and Afreen, died.
The incidents highlight the apathy toward girls in India, said Shabnam Hashmi, a social activist based in New Delhi.
“It is very unfortunate and shameful for a country which calls itself modern,” Hashmi said.
According to the 2011 Census, India had 940 females for every 1,000 males and the ratio of girls under the age of five was 944 for 1,000 boys.
The situation is more worrisome in northern India, especially in Punjab and Haryana states that have only 893 and 877 females, respectively, for every 1,000 males.
“Girls continue to be looked down upon as soon as they are born. They are considered a burden and parents start collecting the dowry for their marriage when the girls are very small,” Hashmi said.
The federal government passed a law last month against child abuse that calls for special courts for speedy trial of cases and stringent punishments that go up to life sentences for offenders.
But, unless social mindsets are changed and social evils like dowry are eradicated from society, “I don’t see any improvement in the welfare of young girls,” Hashmi said.
“Nothing will change overnight. Women will have to assert themselves in order to bring about a change in society.”
Related reports
Parliament passes child abuse act
