Police say 40 babies were dumped in well�|�Reuters.com
Police say 40 babies were dumped in well�|�Reuters.com
BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Police in Orissa have found 10 more skulls belonging to female foetuses and newly born babies in an abandoned well, taking the total number of skulls found to 40, officials said on Wednesday.
Thirty polythene bags filled with baby bones and skulls were found on Monday in the well in Nayagarh town -- 90 km southwest of Bhubaneswar.
"We scoured the well for the entire day and night yesterday and found these 10 more skulls of babies," said Rajesh Kumar, Nayagarh's superintendent of the police.
Authorities suspect the babies were dumped in the well shortly after birth or abortion at about 30 private clinics in the area, which have equipment used for sex determination tests and were operating without licences.
Five clinic owners have been arrested so far.
Despite laws banning sex determination tests, the government says around 10 million girls have been killed -- either before or immediately after birth -- over the past 20 years.
Boys are traditionally preferred by parents as breadwinners and because families have to pay huge dowries to marry off daughters.
Last month, a doctor was arrested on suspicion of illegally aborting 260 female foetuses after police recovered bones from the septic tank in the basement of his maternity clinic in the outskirts of New Delhi.
BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Police in Orissa have found 10 more skulls belonging to female foetuses and newly born babies in an abandoned well, taking the total number of skulls found to 40, officials said on Wednesday.
Thirty polythene bags filled with baby bones and skulls were found on Monday in the well in Nayagarh town -- 90 km southwest of Bhubaneswar.
"We scoured the well for the entire day and night yesterday and found these 10 more skulls of babies," said Rajesh Kumar, Nayagarh's superintendent of the police.
Authorities suspect the babies were dumped in the well shortly after birth or abortion at about 30 private clinics in the area, which have equipment used for sex determination tests and were operating without licences.
Five clinic owners have been arrested so far.
Despite laws banning sex determination tests, the government says around 10 million girls have been killed -- either before or immediately after birth -- over the past 20 years.
Boys are traditionally preferred by parents as breadwinners and because families have to pay huge dowries to marry off daughters.
Last month, a doctor was arrested on suspicion of illegally aborting 260 female foetuses after police recovered bones from the septic tank in the basement of his maternity clinic in the outskirts of New Delhi.
posted by Sandip K. Dasverma at
12:08 PM
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