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CNN Sunday Morning
In India, Girls Murdered by Parents
Aired July 06, 2003 - 10:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: On now to India, where each year parents murder thousands of baby girls. Sociologists blame such killings on a widely held belief. Some think girls are an economic drain because families still have to pay expensive dowries, at the time of their marriage. CNN's Satinder Bindra has more on this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This woman says she has to live the rest of her life with the pain and guilt of knowing she murdered her own newborn baby girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I wanted to keep the baby, but people around me said you have three daughters. Why do you want to have yet another one? How can I kill her, I asked. They suggested giving the baby something that would kill her. So I got tobacco leaves, mixed it with water, and gave it to the baby. She died.
BINDRA: In the southern India district of Salem, such murders are fairly common.
(on camera): In this region over the past one year, officials say approximately 100 female children have been murdered by their own parents. Some were asphyxiated. Others poisoned or starved, and many others left to die in sewers, and garbage dumps.
(voice-over): Sociologists blame such killings on a deep-rooted gender bias. Compared to boys, girls are believed to be an economic drain because it's still customary to pay expensive dowries at the time of their marriage. To control female infanticide, officials have launched a program called the cradle baby scheme to convince parents not to kill, but surrender unwanted baby girls to the state.
So far more than 420 baby girls have been handed over to state officials who claim every baby surrendered is a life saved. Parents like Kamla Palamixami (ph) agree. Six months ago when she gave birth to her sixth child, a baby girl, Kamli Palamixami (ph) decided to give her to the state.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I felt one daughter was enough. Five children were enough. This child should get a better life, so I gave her up.
BINDRA: This woman who killed her baby also says it's poverty that drives parents to murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If I could have clothed, fed and given the baby a decent life I wouldn't have done what I did.
BINDRA: Officials are now trying to educate more women, and find them higher-paying jobs so they're better able to save their children and this region from so much suffering and shame.
Satinder Bindra, CNN Salem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 6, 2003 - 10:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: On now to India, where each year parents murder thousands of baby girls. Sociologists blame such killings on a widely held belief. Some think girls are an economic drain because families still have to pay expensive dowries, at the time of their marriage. CNN's Satinder Bindra has more on this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This woman says she has to live the rest of her life with the pain and guilt of knowing she murdered her own newborn baby girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I wanted to keep the baby, but people around me said you have three daughters. Why do you want to have yet another one? How can I kill her, I asked. They suggested giving the baby something that would kill her. So I got tobacco leaves, mixed it with water, and gave it to the baby. She died.
BINDRA: In the southern India district of Salem, such murders are fairly common.
(on camera): In this region over the past one year, officials say approximately 100 female children have been murdered by their own parents. Some were asphyxiated. Others poisoned or starved, and many others left to die in sewers, and garbage dumps.
(voice-over): Sociologists blame such killings on a deep-rooted gender bias. Compared to boys, girls are believed to be an economic drain because it's still customary to pay expensive dowries at the time of their marriage. To control female infanticide, officials have launched a program called the cradle baby scheme to convince parents not to kill, but surrender unwanted baby girls to the state.
So far more than 420 baby girls have been handed over to state officials who claim every baby surrendered is a life saved. Parents like Kamla Palamixami (ph) agree. Six months ago when she gave birth to her sixth child, a baby girl, Kamli Palamixami (ph) decided to give her to the state.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I felt one daughter was enough. Five children were enough. This child should get a better life, so I gave her up.
BINDRA: This woman who killed her baby also says it's poverty that drives parents to murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If I could have clothed, fed and given the baby a decent life I wouldn't have done what I did.
BINDRA: Officials are now trying to educate more women, and find them higher-paying jobs so they're better able to save their children and this region from so much suffering and shame.
Satinder Bindra, CNN Salem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
