It's a Girl! Page #3

because they fail

to produce sons

or because their new

husbands or in-laws

are not satisfied with the

dowry they've received.

In 1961, the Indian government

outlawed dowry

to prevent such crimes,

yet the practice still

remains common today.

And a majority of

dowry-related crimes

are never investigated

or prosecuted.

Maya and Raju had four children

- all of them daughters.

I just concentrated on

my four daughters

and I prayed to God that they

would have no difficulties.

We were very happy

with our daughters...

more than we would have

been with a son.

As their eldest daughter,

Latika, got older,

her parents worried she

wouldn't find a man to marry.

Then we showed her this man.

She kept saying she

didn't like him,

but I insisted.

My daughter used to say,

"You are treating me as

a burden. "

"You want to get rid of me. "

After the man agreed

to marry Latika,

Maya and Raju collected

what they could

to put together as a dowry.

And so Latika and the

man were married.

Soon Latika got pregnant and

gave birth to a baby girl.

This made Latika happy,

but upset her husband.

Latika's husband frequently

drank too much

and would abuse her.

Latika though, not wanting

to worry her parents,

didn't tell them about

the abuse.

Then, one day, Maya and

Raju received word

that Latika was in the hospital.

The in-laws said her condition

was very serious

and she can't speak.

I knew they were hiding something,

and I started crying

because I didn't know

what else to do.

By the time Maya and Raju

made it to the hospital,

it was too late.

Latika was dead.

When we saw her, my wife

saw the mark on her neck.

We realized she was dead.

We started crying and wailing.

We lost our senses;

we didn't know how

can he kill her.

They told us a lie and

they cheated us.

We sold half our land and we

gave them so many gifts.

Latika's husband had claimed

she had hung herself.

But Maya and Raju

didn't believe him.

The police arrested Latika's

husband for the killing of his wife

in what is known as a dowry death.

But after a few weeks,

they let him go.

In India, courts frequently

ignore dowry deaths

and other crimes against women.

Now Maya and Raju worry about

Latika's baby girl -

their granddaughter.

They worry for her safety,

living with the man

who killed Latika.

Homes where there is tremendous

violence inflicted on women,

are the same homes

where violence

is killing girls of five and

under at an abnormal rate.

So it is like the female becomes

one of the inadvertent pawns

in this resource exchange,

in a patriarchy.

So you can buy her, sell

her, keep her or kill her,

however you want.

It's like with any resource,

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