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IN OCTOBER, Varsha Deshpande persuaded a pregnant friend to travel eight hours to Aurangabad, a thriving, medium-sized city in the state of Maharashtra, for an ultrasound scan that she could have easily undergone in her hometown. Ms Deshpande also persuaded her friend to go to the appointment with a small microphone hidden under her sari blouse. A man posing as her husband had a tiny video camera concealed about him. Using the recordings of what went on during the appointment, Maharashtra’s state government has filed a case against the doctor that could lead to a three-year prison sentence.
Ms Deshpande, a 45-year-old lawyer and women’s-rights activist, is taking an unusual approach to India’s skewed sex ratios. Many parents are desperate for sons but not daughters. Those who resort to aborting female fetuses are worsening an imbalance which has left the country with 914 girls aged six and under per 1,000 boys, according to the 2011 census, down from 927 in 2001. Ms Deshpande, who rolls her eyes at what she calls the typical NGO response of arranging workshops and...
Ms Deshpande, a 45-year-old lawyer and women’s-rights activist, is taking an unusual approach to India’s skewed sex ratios. Many parents are desperate for sons but not daughters. Those who resort to aborting female fetuses are worsening an imbalance which has left the country with 914 girls aged six and under per 1,000 boys, according to the 2011 census, down from 927 in 2001. Ms Deshpande, who rolls her eyes at what she calls the typical NGO response of arranging workshops and...