MADURAI: The ghost of female infanticide is all set to haunt Usilampatti, a taluk once infamous for the practice of administering poison to baby girls, near here. After about 18 years since a private child care institution run by Mose Ministries procured 89 newborns from the town and brought them up in Tiruchi, the DNA profiling, concluded recently on the basis of court orders passed last year, succeeded in identifying the parents of at least 37 of them.
How many of the 37 girls would want to return to their families, how many would prefer to stay put and how would the girls react to the sudden discovery of their parents are questions that are yet to be answered. However, one thing that has struck like lightning, after the Madras High Court Bench here on December 7 last ordered identification of the parents of the 83 girls, is the heart-rending reasons given by those identified for having abandoned their newborns between 1996 and 1998.
In a representation made to Tiruchi Collector, the head of a committee constituted by the High Court to identify the parents, R. Ramalingam of Muthaiyanpatti in Usilampatti taluk said his wife died in 1997 immediately after giving birth to their third daughter. “There was no one to take care of the baby. My mother wanted to kill it, but I did not agree for that. So, my friend and I handed over the baby to a child care home... Now, I want my daughter back,” he said.
K. Dhanalakshmi of Pothampatti, another village in the taluk, accused her husband of having lied to her that the third girl child born to them had died after delivery. He deserted the family after the birth of their fourth girl child. It was only recently that she came to know through a retired employee of the government hospital in Usilampatti that her third daughter was alive and that the baby was handed over to a home.
Similarly, M. Indira of Kattakaruppanpatti recalled to have given birth to twin girls during her first delivery. “Then my father gave away one of the two babies to a nurse in Usilampatti government hospital without informing me or my husband... Though my husband created a ruckus, we did not search for her... Now I am ready to take back my daughter and educate her if she wishes to study. I will maintain her safely and ensure that she does not suffer any kind of hardship either physically or mentally,” she said.
In his representation, A. Ammapillai, an agricultural labourer from V. Perumalpatti, said he had fathered six girl children. The second child died due to small pox and the fourth child was born dead. “I was sick and bedridden during the birth of my sixth child. Then, fearing that I may not bear the shock of having fathered a girl child again, my family members lied to me that my wife gave birth to a baby boy and gave away the baby girl to someone without informing me,” he claimed.
Flower vendor M. Mookammal of Mekkizharpatti blamed her aunt for giving away her sixth girl child to some unknown person and accused her husband of having sold their seventh girl child for Rs. 500 within three days of birth on February 2, 1996. M. Balaiah of Manoothu alleged that his mother-in-law gave away his second girl child to some unknown woman in the hospital without his consent. He said the incident took place after the death of twin baby boys born to his wife within seven months of pregnancy.
These and many more narrations came to light only after the filing of a public interest litigation petition in the Madras High Court Bench here last year against the child care home run by Mose Ministries. Then, a Division Bench of Justices V. Ramasubramanian and N. Kirubakaran directed the court-constituted committee, headed by the Tiruchi Collector, to take over the management of the home besides taking steps to trace the parents of the 83 inmates by holding enquiries in Usilampatti taluk.
The Bench also ordered DNA tests to confirm the parentage and made it clear that the custody of the inmates should not be handed over to their parents without court orders. It took several months to trace the parents and conclude DNA profiling. Finally, on November 30 this year, a Division Bench of Justices S. Nagamuthu and M.V. Muralidaran ordered that 82 inmates who had attained majority should be set free and allowed to live wherever they wished to.
Now, the committee is keeping its fingers crossed as it is yet to receive a certified copy of the latest court order. The receipt of the order would determine further developments on the issue and serve as a constant reminder of how Usilampatti, now a taluk with an impressive sex ratio of 998 females for every 1,000 males as per the 2011 census, had once served as the jaws of death for baby girls.
