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India-Pakistan
Killing of newborn babies on rise
2011-01-18
[Pak Daily Times] The bodies of two newborn babies were given their final bath before they were buried in Bloody Karachi, after they were discovered in the city's garbage dumps.

"They can only have been one or two days old," said volunteer worker Muhammad Saleem, pointing at the two small corpses being gently washed by his colleagues at a charity's morgue.

Infanticide, a crime in Pakistain is on the rise. More than 1,000 infants -- most of them girls -- were killed or abandoned to die in the country last year, according to conservative estimates by the Edhi Foundation, a charity working to reverse the grim trend.

The infanticide figures are collected only from Pakistain's main cities, leaving out huge swathes of the rural areas, and the charity says that in December alone, it found 40 dead babies left in garbage dumps and sewers.

The number of dead infants found last year -- 1,210 -- was up from 890 in 2008 and 999 in 2009, said Edhi Foundation Manager in Bloody Karachi, Anwar Kazmi.

Kazmi recounts the discovery of the burnt body of a six-day-old infant who had been strangled. Another child was found on the steps of a mosque having been stoned to death on the orders of a holy man who has since disappeared, he said.

"Do not murder, lay them here," reads a sign hanging outside the charity's Bloody Karachi base where it has left cradles in the hope that parents will abandon their unwanted children there, instead of leaving them to die.

"People leave these children mostly because they think they are illegitimate, but they are as innocent and loveable as all human beings," says the charity's founder, well-known humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi.

Most children found are less than a week old.

Khair Mohammad, 65, works as a watchman in the charity's vast graveyard in the city outskirts. It is dotted with tiny unnamed graves.

"We acquired this land to bury children after another plot was filled with hundreds of bodies," he said.

The corpse count is far worse among girls, says manager Kazmi, with nine out of ten dead babies the charity finds being female.

"The number of infanticides of girls has substantially increased," Kazmi said, a rise attributed to increased poverty across the country.

Girls are seen by many Paks as a greater economic burden as most women are not permitted to work and are considered to be the financial responsibility of their fathers, and later their husbands.

A Pak family can be forced to raise more than one million rupees to marry their daughter off.
What -- the poor ones?
Edhi said that up to 200 babies are left in its 400 cradles nationwide each year and that it handles thousands of requests for adoption by childless couples.Abortion is prohibited in Islam, except when the mother's life is at risk from her pregnancy, but advocates say that legalisation would reduce infanticide and save mothers from potentially fatal back-street terminations.

According to the country's law, anyone found to have abandoned an infant could be jugged for seven years, while anyone guilty of secretly burying a child can be imprisoned for two years. Murder is punishable with life imprisonment.

But crimes of infanticide are rarely prosecuted.

"The majority of cop shoppes do not register cases of infanticide, let alone launch investigations into them," said lawyer Abdul Rasheed.
Posted by:Fred

#7  We generally murder about 4 children a day on average in the US in the third trimester.

Its the American holocaust - over 45 million abortions since Roe v Wade judicially usurped the legislative role. Less than 1% due to rape/incest. Approximately 4.5 million or more because the child was "inconvenient" (would interfere with job or education plans), and over 27 million because they didn't want to have a kid *yet* or said they cannot afford one or the partner objected. Put a dollar value on a human life... Its the biggest shame in America of the latter part of the 20th... And in the 21st, we continue to destroy over 800,000 a year.
Posted by: OldSpook   2011-01-18 22:11  

#6  I'll bet you the left's abortion mills have that beat hands down.

Sadly.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2011-01-18 11:56  

#5  it is probably that a lot of these, maybe most, are children of women who think they will be charged with indecency/fornication if they are seen having a baby

that is, unmarried women, women whose husbands are away, etc.

being charged with indecency/fornication in Pakland can get you killed, if not by the legal system, then by the community
Posted by: lord garth   2011-01-18 11:41  

#4  4th term 4th trimester
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2011-01-18 10:56  

#3  The proper medical term is '4th term abortion', while the legal term is 'homicide'.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2011-01-18 10:55  

#2  A Pak family can be forced to raise more than one million rupees to marry their daughter off.

While wandering through MEMRI I came across this:

Pakistani Daily Reports – 'Child Marriages: 10 Year-Old Girls Traded for Rs. 100,000 [Approximately $1,150]' . Which presumes that those who exposed their newborn baby girls had other reasons than cost to do so. I wonder how high the unreported rape rate is over there, and the incest... Agreed, nGuard, there really is no difference between pre-partum and post-partum abortion as far as the purpose is concerned, although post-partum is a crueller death.
Posted by: trailing wife   2011-01-18 10:33  

#1  
Killing of newborn babies on rise

naah-- they are just engaging in post partum abortions!

(/feminazi)
Posted by: nGuard   2011-01-18 09:16  

00:00