On 21st October our next book “Behold the Leviathan: The Unusual Rise of Modern India” will be published by Penguin Random House. One of the central tenets of the book is the explosive acceleration in the levels of educational attainment, employment and entrepreneurial success of Indian women. Whilst we look forward to discussing with you how we are capitalizing on the rise of Indian women in our investment portfolios, the BBC has produced a powerful and heart wrenching story regarding how deep seated prejudices inflict enormous damage on our girls. Amitabh Parashar writes for the BBC: “Midwife Siro Devi is clinging to Monica Thatte, sobbing. Monica, in her late 20s, has returned to her birthplace – the Indian town where Siro has delivered hundreds of babies.
But this is no straightforward reunion. There is a painful history behind Siro’s tears. Shortly before Monica was born, Siro and several Indian midwives like her were regularly pressured to murder newborn girls.
Monica, evidence suggests, is one they saved.
I have been following Siro’s story for 30 years, ever since I went to interview her and four other rural midwives in India’s Bihar state in 1996.
They had been identified by a non-governmental organization as being behind the murder of baby girls in the district of Katihar where, under pressure from the newborns’ parents, they were killing them by feeding them chemicals or simply wringing their necks.
Hakiya Devi, the eldest of the midwives I interviewed, told me at the time she had killed 12 or 13 babies. Another midwife, Dharmi Devi, admitted to killing more – at least 15-20.
It is impossible to ascertain the exact number of babies they may have killed, given the way the data was gathered.
But they featured in a report published in 1995 by an NGO, based on interviews with them and 30 other midwives. If the report’s estimates are accurate, more than 1,000 baby girls were being murdered every year in one district, by just 35 midwives. According to the report, Bihar at the time had more than half a million midwives. And infanticide was not limited to Bihar.
Refusing orders, Hakiya said, was almost never an option for a midwife.
“The family would lock the room and stand behind us with sticks,” says Hakiya Devi. “They’d say: ‘We already have four-five daughters. This will wipe out our wealth. Once we give dowry for our girls, we will starve to death. Now, another girl has been born. Kill her.’
“Who could we complain to? We were scared. If we went to the police, we’d get into trouble. If we spoke up, people would threaten us.””
So why – you might ask – are midwifes so enfeebled, so helpless that they are forced to turn into serial killers? Mr Parashar’s answer takes us another layer deeper into the prejudices which undermine women in India: “The role of a midwife in rural India is rooted in tradition, and burdened by the harsh realities of poverty and caste. The midwives I interviewed belonged to the lower castes in India’s caste hierarchy. Midwifery was a profession passed on to them by mothers and grandmothers. They lived in a world where refusing orders of powerful, upper-caste families was unthinkable.
The midwife could be promised a sari, a sack of grain or a small amount of money for killing a baby. Sometimes even that was not paid. The birth of a boy earned them about 1,000 rupees. The birth of a girl earned them half.
The reason for this imbalance was steeped in India’s custom of giving a dowry, they explained. Though the custom was outlawed in 1961, it still held strong in the 90s – and indeed continues into the present day.
A dowry can be anything – cash, jewelry, utensils. But for many families, rich or poor, it is the condition of a wedding. And this is what, for many, still makes the birth of a son a celebration and the birth of a daughter a financial burden.
Siro Devi, the only midwife of those I interviewed who is still alive, used a vivid physical image to explain this disparity in status.
“A boy is above the ground – higher. A daughter is below – lower. Whether a son feeds or takes care of his parents or not, they all want a boy.”
The preference for sons can be seen in India’s national-level data. Its most recent census, in 2011, recorded a ratio of 943 women to every 1,000 men. This is nevertheless an improvement on the 1990s – in the 1991 census, the ratio was 927/1,000.”
13 years from the 2011 census we don’t know whether India has more or less than 943 women for every 1000 men. That, amongst several other reasons, is what makes the next census – whenever that might be held – the most important counting exercise since India gained Independence.
Back in Bihar, 30 years ago when you and I might have been agonizing about the Harshad Mehta scam and other important developments in the economy, one woman stepped into stop the tide of midwives having to kill girls: “By the time I finished filming the midwives’ testimonies in 1996, a small, silent change had begun. The midwives who once carried out these orders had started to resist.
This change was instigated by Anila Kumari, a social worker who supported women in the villages around Katihar, and was dedicated to addressing the root causes of these killings.
Anila’s approach was simple. She asked the midwives, “Would you do this to your own daughter?”
Her question apparently pierced years of rationalization and denial. The midwives got some financial help via community groups and gradually the cycle of violence was interrupted.
Siro, speaking to me in 2007, explained the change.
“Now, whoever asks me to kill, I tell them: ‘Look, give me the child, and I’ll take her to Anila Madam.’””
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Note: The above material is neither investment research, nor financial advice. Marcellus does not seek payment for or business from this publication in any shape or form. The information provided is intended for educational purposes only. Marcellus Investment Managers is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and is also an FME (Non-Retail) with the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) as a provider of Portfolio Management Services. Additionally, Marcellus is also registered with US Securities and Exchange Commission (“US SEC”) as an Investment Advisor.
