BAJURA: Abortion cases originating in lack of awareness about equality between sons and daughters are surging in the Far-Western Region, of late.

The government rules allow women to abort foetus in first three months of pregnancy.

However, most of the women go for illegal and unsafe abortion after identifying the sex of the foetus. The sex of a child can be medically differentiated only after four months of pregnancy.

Consequently, unsafe abortion has worsened the health condition of women undergoing it.

After experiencing health problems after illegal and unsafe abortion, many women visit hospitals for the treatment, informed Seti Zonal Hospital nurse, Sunita Khatri.

Ganesh Bahadur Singh, a doctor of Seti Zonal Hospital, informed that women of Dhangadhi and Attariya of Kailali and Mahendranagar of Kanchanpur among other places abort the foetus of daughters after the sex identification.

Twenty-two-year-old Sita (name changed) of Dhangadi, Kailali, recently aborted her four-month-old foetus with her husband’s consent after the sex identification of the foetus revealed a girl.

The couple went to Paliya of India for identification of the sex of their foetus. She said, “We already have a daughter as our first born and when the foetal sex determination revealed a girl again, we decided to abort.”

She suffered from excessive bleeding after the abortion, hence, she had to go to Seti Zonal Hospital in Dhangadi for treatment.  Motikala (name changed) of Barhabisha, Bajura, also went to Paliya for the sex identification of her five-month-old foetus and aborted after coming to know that it was a girl. She too suffered  excessive bleeding and had to undertake a weeklong medication. She already has three daughters.

Both women said that it cost IRs 4,000 for foetal sex identification and IRs 5,000 for abortion in India.