Source: BBC
Context: In the 1990s, rural midwives in Bihar, India, were pressured to kill newborn girls due to societal preference for sons.
Journalist documented their confessions, revealing how families coerced midwives to commit infanticide under the threat of violence. This practice was tied to the dowry system, where daughters were seen as a financial burden. However, social workers began changing this, asking midwives if they would kill their own daughters.
Some midwives, including Siro Devi, began saving girls and sending them to orphanages. Monica, one of the rescued babies, reunited with Siro decades later. Despite progress, the preference for sons persists, as seen in abandoned baby girls.
The case presents several ethical dilemmas:
- Coercion vs. Moral Responsibility: Midwives were coerced by families to commit infanticide, raising the dilemma of acting under duress versus moral duty to protect life.
- Caste and Poverty: The midwives, belonging to lower castes, faced societal pressures, complicating their ability to refuse orders from powerful families, pitting survival against ethical action.
- Gender Discrimination: The societal preference for sons devalued female life, forcing midwives to choose between compliance and resisting harmful gender norms.
- Justice vs. Forgiveness: Should the midwives be held accountable for their past actions, or should their transformation and efforts to save lives be seen as redemption?
- Cultural Tradition vs. Legal Obligation: The custom of dowry and societal norms clashed with laws prohibiting sex-selective practices, creating a conflict between following tradition and upholding the law.
Usage: The example can be used in an Essay/ Ethics main paper.
