In a horrific incident, a father of five daughters here allegedly ripped open the stomach of his pregnant wife on Saturday evening allegedly to find out if she was going to deliver a son this time. Pannalal slit the stomach of his 35 year old wife, with a sharp-edged weapon in the Nekpur locality under the Civil Lines police station area, injuring her seriously, senior police official (City) Pravin Singh Chauhan said.
An FIR has been lodged and the husband has been arrested, Mr Chauhan said, adding that the reasons behind the crime is being looked into.
The family of the woman, who was rushed to a Bareilly hospital in a serious condition, alleged that Pannalal wanted a son and committed the crime to know if it was male or female foetus.
The locals immediately rushed the woman to the district hospital from where she was sent to the Bareilly hospital in a serious condition. The woman is said to be six to seven months pregnant, the police said.
The Incident is a terrible recall of a crime committed on Feb 28, 2002 on young Kauser Bano at Naroda Patiya, Gujarat, It was one of a series of incidents of gendered violence and killings that took 124 lives in this area alone on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Such mass crimes against the marginalised acquire legitimacy when society, with its obsession for a son, can do the same to “their own” women!