came in a recent survey by the Community Services Guild of Madras．a city in TamiI Nadu．Of the 1，250 women questioned，the survey concluded that more than half had killed baby daughters．11 In urban areas easier access to modern medical technology anables women tO act before birth．Through amniocentesis，womencan learn the sex of a fetus and undergo sex-selective abortions．Atone clinic in Bombay，of 8，ooo abortions performed after amniocentesis，7，999 were of female fetuses，according to a recent report bythe Indian government．To be sure，female infanticide and sex-selective abortion are not unique tO India．Social workers in other South Asian states believe that some communities also condone the practice．12 The root problems，according to village women，sociologists and other experts，are cultural and economic．In India，fl young woman is regarded as a temporary member of her natural family and a drain on its wealth．Her parents are considered caretakers whose main responsibility is to deliver a chaste daughter，along with a sizable dowry，tO her husband’S family．13“They say bringing up fl girl is like watering fl neighborS plant，”says R．Venkatachalam，director of the Community Services Guild of Madras．“From birth tO death，the expenditure is there．”The dowry，he says，often wipes out a family’S life savings but is necessary tO arrange a proper marriage and maintain the honor of the bride’S family．14 After giving birth to a daughter，village women“immediately start thinking，‘Do we have the money tO support her through life?’and if they don’t，they kill her，”according to Vasanthai，20，the mother of an 18一month-old girl and a resident of the village where Rani lives．“You definitely do it after two or three daughters．Whv would you want more?”
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