This story is from July 14, 2019

Warangal Rural: Here, a girl is a child of lesser God

Warangal Rural: Here, a girl is a child of lesser God
The fear is so deep-rooted here that some tribal families decide to sell the baby if it’s a girl as soon as their daughters get pregnant. But, when a boy is born, the entire hamlet celebrates.
SANGEM (WARANGAL RURAL): Eight months ago, in a remote Lambada tribal village in Warangal Rural district, 26-year-old Bhaanvi (name changed) was tied to a tree and burnt alive by members of her family even as villagers looked on.
Nobody came to her rescue nor was there an FIR filed about the horrific incident. But, word about her ‘crime’ spread like a wild fire in the entire belt of tribal thandas (hamlets) in and around Turpu thanda where she lived.
Bhaanvi’s crime: Giving birth to a girl child. Bhaanvi was a first-time mom.
If a warrior like Bhaanvi paid a heavy price for defying the society, other tribal women are not ready to show the same courage. The fear of giving birth to a girl child is so deep that women go to great lengths to abort a female foetus. And god forbid, if a baby girl is delivered, mothers not only cry on their misfortune but also put them up for sale immediately or wash their hands of the girl child. “This malady is rampant in several hamlets, villages and mandals,” a civil activist points out.
While the state has seen a continuous drop in sex ratio at birth (number of females born per 1,000 males) over the years — from 954 in 2013 to 901 in 2019, Warangal Rural has the dubious distinction of having the worst sex ratio in Telangana, as per the latest official records.
Baji Jatoth, head of a tribal family in a thanda, confirms the worst fears of tribals. She says they took a ‘decision’ as soon as her granddaughter Kalpana returned home with a big belly. “We had decided to sell if Kalpana gave birth to a baby girl,” Baji says. She admits to having a visitor come over to their home and offer Rs 3 lakh for the baby. But, with two baby boys who would eventually translate into Rs 40 lakh to Rs 50 lakh dowry, the deal died a natural death.

“Abortions are common in all the neighbouring thandas. We do not want to give birth to a girl child,” Baji asserts, making no bones about the ‘preference.’
Kalpana is thankful to god that it wasn’t a girl child. What if it was a girl child? Pat comes the reply, “My husband wouldn’t have just stopped at hitting me but would have killed me.”
In ground zero (rural Warangal), a girl child is not just a burden but is a taboo. Among the deep-routed tribal customs and rituals, there is very little place for women to have baby girls. “Such families are ostracised, they are not even invited to social functions. Birth of a girl child is treated with utter disgust. When I delivered my second girl last year, I cried for months together because none would accept me nor my child,” rues Swarna.
Locals say aversion to girl child has a direct connect with dowry. Despite having a low sex ratio — 700 in some of the thandas — the demand for dowry is unrelenting. A Lambada boy doing farm labour commands a dowry anywhere between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 50 lakh. “His thatched house may be falling apart but dowry during marriage is mandatory,” a local avers.
While most tribals have farmland, having a girl child means parting with the land for good (read dowry). In smaller hamlets, men of marriageable age are unable to find brides, while in many others men are dying young — due to alcohol abuse and tuberculosis. “Many men die before they turn marriageable age. There is a huge problem of tuberculosis here,” says Rangamma of Somla thanda.
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