Murder
is a heinous crime. Yet, there are many in India who think nothing of the
brutality of killing females even before they have the opportunity to be
born.The selective abortion of female foetuses is rampant in India, resulting
in a tragically skewed sex ratio of 914 girls to 1,000 boys in the country.
The situation is more morbid in Gujarat where the ratio is 883 girls to 1,000 boys. While the gov ernment has banned sex determination tests in the country, domestic e-commerce sites are selling an illegal home sex-test kit that promises to tell expecting moms whether they are carrying a boy or a girl as early as 10 weeks after conception. The kit is easily available online, spelling trou ble for states where the practice of killing females in the womb is both practical and socially acceptable.
The situation is more morbid in Gujarat where the ratio is 883 girls to 1,000 boys. While the gov ernment has banned sex determination tests in the country, domestic e-commerce sites are selling an illegal home sex-test kit that promises to tell expecting moms whether they are carrying a boy or a girl as early as 10 weeks after conception. The kit is easily available online, spelling trou ble for states where the practice of killing females in the womb is both practical and socially acceptable.
Indiamart.com,
which claims to be India's largest online business-tobusiness marketplace,
advertises `IntelliGender Gender Prediction Test Kit' which assures
identification of a foetus's gender through a urine test. Due to the ban in India,
such ads for prenatal gender selection kits are neither harmless nor legal.
According
to Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, any kind of
advertisement relating to sex determination test is illegal and a punishable
offence.Yet, the kit is also available on in.ebid.net, an online auction
website, and http:www.indianindustry.com, another online marketplace.
EASY
AVAILABILITY
The
official website for IntelliGender Gender Prediction Test Kit states,
“IntelliGender is designed for easy home use by curious expectant mothers. In
minutes, the test indicates your gender result based upon an easy-to-read
colour match. Green indicates boy and orange indicates girl!“ When this
correspondent contacted Vijendrasingh Mansingh Rajput from Indiamart
(Ahmedabad) as a customer, he said, “The product will be made available in the
city.“
On
further request, he provided the number of Sunil Gupta, who works in New Delhi
at 3G Chemist, the shop that supplies the kit across the country.
Over
the telephone, Gupta said, “We courier the kit across the country, even
Gujarat. However, the customer needs to pay an advance amount of Rs 6,000 per
kit. We offer a discount of Rs 500 on pre-payment so the kit costs Rs 5,500
including delivery charges. We deliver teh kits in batches. Our next delivery
is slated for November 20.“
International
websites like eBay, which do not sell the product in India, price the product
at Rs 2,000. Asked about the steep priceing, Gupta said, “We import the product
from the US, which adds to the cost.“
Interestingly,
Gupta is quite aware that the product is deemed illegal in India. “We deliver
the kit in a plain box. It does not mention details of the product on the
outside. So it is safe and does not involve legal complications as no one is
wiser. “ Sadly, 3G Chemist is not the only seller. Many dealers are advertising
the kit on several e-commerce sites.In.ebid.net is selling the product for Rs
3080 (approx) which includes “international shipping From United States to
India“. Website http:www.indianindustry.com also carries advertisements for the
same product. Under PCPNDT Act, enacted by the Indian Parliament in 1994, any
kind of sex determination test is banned. Section 2 of the Act states `any
equipment capable of determining sex of the foetus or portable equipment which
has the potential for detection of sex during pregnancy or selection of sex
before conception' is prohibited in the country. Also, Section 3B states, “No
person shall sell any ultrasound machine or imaging machine or scanner or any
other equipment capable of detecting sex of a foetus to any genetic counselling
centre, genetic laboratory, genetic clinic or any other person not regis tered
under the Act.“
Despite
this Act, any person in India who has access to the internet can log on to
these portals and order the kit. This will be a setback to Gujarat's `Save the
Girl Child' campaign,“ said a family welfare department official, adding,
“Regular and repeated inspection of sonography centres has reduced sex
determination practices in the state considerably.“
When
Mirror informed about the online sale of these kits to the department's
Assistant Director Rakesh R Vaidya, he said, “I will discuss the matter with
higher authority.“
KIT'S
EFFICACY
Can
a woman, within weeks of her pregnancy, find out the sex of her child by pee
ing into a cup? That is what makers of IntelliGender claim. But how accurate is
it?
IntelliGender's latest report boasts of 78-80 per cent accuracy rate even as the firm refuses to divulge what hormones or chemicals it uses it in its test be cause of a pending patent. “Most parents have a great degree of curiosity to find out if they're having a boy or a girl, and it can be so excruciating to wait until the 20 week sonogram to find out,“ IntelliGender co-founder Rebecca Griffin says, follow ing it with the rider: “But the test was never meant to be a diagnostic tool. We don't claim 100 percent accuracy.“
IntelliGender's latest report boasts of 78-80 per cent accuracy rate even as the firm refuses to divulge what hormones or chemicals it uses it in its test be cause of a pending patent. “Most parents have a great degree of curiosity to find out if they're having a boy or a girl, and it can be so excruciating to wait until the 20 week sonogram to find out,“ IntelliGender co-founder Rebecca Griffin says, follow ing it with the rider: “But the test was never meant to be a diagnostic tool. We don't claim 100 percent accuracy.“
In
fact, the company's website specifically says to not “paint the room pink or
blue“ until an expectant mom confirms results with her doctor. Unlike the West,
gender testing isn't just about painting the nursery or picking the right
colour for baby clothes, it's about aborting the unwanted foetus.
Interestingly, while the test is available for sale in 11 countries, Griffin
claims IntelliGender does not sell the test to India or China. Fertility
experts are skeptical about IntelliGender's claim.
“Results
for such tests are accurate as making a random guess. People should not waste
their money on such kits,“ says city gynaecologist Sheetal Punjabi.
No comments :
Post a Comment