UP Shocker: Man Throws Boiling Water On Wife For Not Having Son

The obsession with male child preference is still a worrying reality in Indian families. Recently, it led a man in Uttar Pradesh to throw boiling water on his wife, according to reports. Father to three daughters, he was angry at her for not delivering a son. The woman is currently in hospital for treatment.

The shocking incident occurred last week but only came to wider notice when the woman's father filed a police complaint against his son-in-law, according to reports.

The couple reportedly tied the knot in 2013 and, as alleged by the woman's father, the accused put financial pressures on her through their marriage, demanding she bring money to the tune of Rs 50,000 from her parents' home.

SP Sanjeev Bajpai has said the accused is on the run and all efforts are being put into locating him for arrest at the earliest.

Male Child Preference Risks Safety Of Women, Daughters

The incident from Shahjahanpur, UP is one of many similar cases where women's safety has been compromised in a bid for male progeny.

A woman from Mumbai, as per reports this week, alleged her husband assaulted her and coerced her into having eight abortions in hopes of a son. Both husband and wife come from families of lawyers, she said. According to her claims, the man even took her abroad for medical procedures and sex determination tests.

Calling it a case of "domestic violence," Dadar police officials are investigating the matter and have refused to disclose the identity of the parties involved.

Census 2011 records the sex ratio in India as being 943 females per 1000 males in rural areas and in urban areas, 929 females to 1000 males. Meanwhile, data presented in the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report released last year shows 4.6 crore girls are 'missing,' pushed by socio-cultural practices of gender inequality, chiefly sex selection in pursuit of male child preferences.

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