This powerful and moving film explores the complexity of female infanticide in southern India and shows steps that are being taken to eradicate the practice.

Every year in India thousands of baby girls are killed. Partly this is because of the dowry system which makes a daughter a liability to a family. In a country where being a woman means living a life of hardship, the murder of female infants may be seen by the mothers as being a humane solution. There is even the widespread belief that if a baby girl is killed, then the next baby will be a boy.

URISE, a non-governmental agency, is working in the villages to promote the idea among women that female children are equal in the eyes of the law and can be an asset in the family. They have set up associations called sanghams to support pregnant women and mothers in their decision to keep their daughters. When a girl baby is born, the sanghamscelebrates her arrival with gifts, showing the mother that a girl is something to be valued. This sensitive film does not dwell on the horrors of the practice. Rather, it allows the women to speak for themselves and shows how they can be empowered.

Association for Asian Studies, 1998