Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (TP)
Udupi, Oct 24: Determining or disclosing the sex of a foetus before birth, as well as committing female foeticide, constitutes a punishable offence under Indian law.
Members of the public are urged to report such incidents to the relevant authorities, said Dr Leslie Lewis, president of the District-Level Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act Advisory Committee.
Presiding over the district-level PCPNDT advisory committee meeting held on Friday, October 24, at the conference hall of the district health and family welfare officer’s office in Udupi, Dr Lewis stressed the importance of safeguarding the girl child’s right to life.
“Girls must be given the right to live in society. Killing them in the womb leads to gender imbalance,” he stated.
He further announced that any person providing information about individuals, scanning centres, or hospitals involved in foetal sex determination would be rewarded by the government with an amount ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000. The identity of informants, he assured, would be kept strictly confidential.
Dr Lewis warned that medical practitioners and scanning centre owners found engaging in such unlawful acts would face a fine of Rs 10,000 and imprisonment for up to three years. In cases of repeat offences, a fine of Rs 50,000 and imprisonment for up to five years could be imposed.
He emphasised that all scanning centres must display the government’s approval certificate prominently and maintain proper registers and records regarding the operation and maintenance of scanning machines as mandated by law. Failure to comply, he cautioned, would attract legal action.
From April to September 2025, the district recorded 997 girl children for every 1,000 boys. Dr Lewis urged that awareness programmes be conducted to educate the public on the social consequences of a declining female sex ratio.
Among those present at the meeting were district family welfare officer Dr Ramarao, district information officer Manjunath, district hospital radiologist Dr Amna Hegde, KMC Manipal obstetrician Dr Pratap Kumar, and social worker Tara Acharya, along with other officials.