Doodh peeti

Doodh peeti was a method of female infanticide in which newborn girls were drowned in pails or pits of cow milk (doodh). It is the British government who found that in Rajasthan, the people were dipping and drowning newborn girl child in milk to death. The practice was prevalent in the Saurashtra and Kutch region of India.[1][2][3] The phrase is a euphemism literally meaning "feeding of milk".[4][5]

History

During a census in 1805, the British officials found almost no girls in Jadeja Rajput families of the Kutch and Kathiawar regions.[1] The 11th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica (1910) noted under the topic Infanticide that this method was practiced by some Rajputs to avoid paying dowry later. It noted that Rajahs sometimes paid over £100,000 as a dowry.[6] The British resident in Baroda Colonel Walker, insisted on banning the practice while signing pacts with the local Rajputs. The practice however continued until the late 19th century.[7]

See also

References
  1. Jill E. Korbin (1983). Child Abuse and Neglect: Cross-cultural Perspectives. University of California Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-520-05070-9. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  2. Banerji, Rita (October 2009). "Female Genocide in India and the 50 Million Missing Campaign". Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific (22). Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  3. Rath, Suresh. "Public Health Needs Modified Strategy". ResearchGate. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  4. Anantanand Rambachan (7 November 2014). A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not-Two Is Not One. SUNY Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-1-4384-5457-3. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  5. Aḥsānulḥaq (1 January 2007). Sociology of Population in India. Macmillan India. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-230-63013-0. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  6. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Infanticide" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 516–517, see page 516, section 2, central area. Of these artificial hardships the best example is afforded by India. There the practice, though forbidden by both the Vedas and the Koran, prevailed among the Rajputs and certain aboriginal tribes.
  7. Achyut Yagnik (24 August 2005). Shaping Of Modern Gujarat. Penguin Books Limited. p. 77. ISBN 978-81-8475-185-7. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
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