‘Women responsible for foeticide’, repeats AIWC chief, then backtracks

Chandigarh | July 19 2011

A meeting to prepare women for the upcoming Women’s Reservation Bill by the All India Women Congress (AIWC) turned out to be an exercise in woman bashing, ending with a free-for-all between two rival groups. Newly appointed AIWC president Anita Verma set the tone for the day through a press release which said, “Women alone are responsible for female foeticide.” Verma, in the press statement, blamed women for agreeing to abort a female foetus under pressure from husband and in-laws. The statement said it starts with a woman — the mother-in-law is usually the first to ask for sex determination tests and abortion — and ends with a woman who agrees to abort the girl child and becomes a party to the crime.

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