KABUL (Pajhwok): Women comprised half of the human society and are respected in Islam but still some people upon the birth of baby girl expressed disappointment, torture the mother of baby girl and even hand over divorce.
Pajhwok’s finding showed that some people are willing not to take their baby girl babies in the hospitals after their birth while some tried to kill the baby girl before birth.
This comes that women played no role while giving birth to baby girl. Experts said that disappointment on the birth of baby girl was ignorance and enmity with Allah Almighty.
Violence against women in the aftermath of baby girl birth is against all laws and government, media and common people should spread awareness in this regard.
Our family mourned the birth of every baby girl
Fatima, the resident of Nimroz province’s capital Zaranj is one of the women who faced violence due to giving birth to a baby girl.
She told Pajhwok Afghan News: “Thirty years passed from my marriage and I have seven daughters, my husband was little happy on the birth of my first daughter but my second, third, fourth, fifth children were girls, than my husband resorted to violence and indulged violently on a small issue or sometimes made pretext for violence, he paid no attention to me and my children’s well-being, my sixth child was baby boy so my husband was very happy but again I give birth to a baby girl and that made my husband furious, after the birth of every baby girl my husband caused mourning on me and my house.”
She said one of her daughter was born in the Hospital but her husband indulged in verbal clash with the doctor because she offered felicitation to him upon the birth of baby girl.
She said due to anger her husband did not want to pay the hospital charges and he was making false excused in this regard.
Not only husbands but other in-laws also commit violence against women, who give birth to daughters.
Sakina, a resident of Bamiyo, says when she conceived a baby girl, she noticed a change in her mother-in-law’s behaviour.
She says: “My husband is the only man in his family. That’s why my mother-in-law wanted her grandchild to be a boy. But when I got pregnant and it was determined I was carrying a girl; my in-laws started treating me badly.”
Sakina recalled on delivery day she had not been taken to hospital, and that she lost the baby as a result.
Killing and divorcing of mothers due to baby girl birth
According to reports, a lady was killed in the Kabul City’s 9th Police District in 2020 and another lady was killed in Kunduz Khanabad district in 2011 on the bases of giving birth to girl baby.
According to Pajhwok Afghan News report a woman was divorced in 2020 by her husband after giving birth to third girl in a row.
Leaving baby girl in the hospital behind
Dr. Malaly Rahim Faizi, head of the Malay Meternity Hospital in Kabul, said she faced several incidents that the husband of the newly born baby girl had annoyed with her wife on this reason.
Faizi said some people want to leave their newly born baby girls in the hospital.
Killing baby girl before birth
Dr. Faizi said at her private clinic she faced with families who demanded medicines that could girl the baby girl before birth, but she refused their demand and discouraged them from doing so.
She added: “From a medical point of view and according to the law of the Ministry of Public Health, no one should tell the family about the sex of the child, even in the ultrasound reports, the gender option is not included and is not written, but still Afghanistan has a traditional society, when a mother comes for examination, before the examination is completed, the husband wants to know whether the child is a boy or a girl.”
Religious Scholar Noorullah Kawsar, said: “In developed society it is forbidden to disclose the gender of baby until the baby is born, even in some countries this matter involved prosecution, the moral aspect of medical also demand that this issue should be kept secret because an unfortunate things could happen due to severe happiness or sadness, professional doctors never do this and encourage the patients to wait until the baby birth.”
Woman has no role in baby’s gender
Dr. Malalay Faizi said people should leave behind the old culture of showing disappointment on the birth of baby girl and refrain from violence on this subject because woman has nothing to do with deciding the gender of baby.
She said: “Woman has x, x chromosomes while man has x, y chromosomes, when man’s x chromosomes meets woman’s x chromosome it result in the birth of baby girl and when woman’s x chromosome meets man’s y chromosome it result in baby boy gender, woman has the same chromosome and has no role to play in producing boy or girl but it is man who has role in producing girl or boy.”
Disappointment on baby girl’s birth is ignorance
Religious scholar Noorullah Kawsar said disappointment on the birth of baby girl is ignorance, an act against the teaching of Islam, enmity with Allah and objection on the blessing of Allah.
He said it is the blessing of Allah almighty. Allah give to some people son, to some daughter and make some people infertile. Daughter is a blessing and it is said by the Prophet (PBUH) that Allah (SWT) sends double blessing to a house where girl is born and single blessing to a house where boy is born.
He said Islam never makes difference between girl and boy, adding that in most cases Islam give higher value to girls.
Need for awareness spreading
According to Kawsar it was government ulema and media responsibility to spread awareness among people that the birth of girl or boy was the blessing of Allah (SWT) and Allah (SWT) make this decision.
He said this message should be conveyed to the masses that the birth of baby girl is not a loss, adding that before the advent of Islam people used to bury girls alive.
Violence against women
Lal Gul Lal, former head of Human Rights Commission in Afghanistan, said this unfortunate culture existed in Afghanistan that some people are showing disappointment on the birth of baby girl.
“Whoever does violence to a woman because of the birth of a daughter, this is gender violence that is done to women in Afghan society, this is a violation of human and Islamic rights, international laws and the laws of Afghanistan.”
Haytullah Mohajir Farahi, deputy broadcast head of the Information and Cultural Affairs Ministry, said: “All our institutions are working to eradicate this bad culture, this is an Islamic system and naturally we all working in this regard specially the Vice and Virtue, Hajj Ministry and ulema.”
He said the Broadcast Department of the ministry was also striving to eradicate this illicit culture in the society.
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