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Abstract
Infanticide is a widespread practice, yet few ethnographic and theoretical works examine this. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in the Indian Himalayas, I argue that infanticide is a form of reproductive disruption that elicits both public moral judgments and private silences. In this Himalayan context, the stigmas of abortion and premarital sex prevent community acknowledgement of infanticide and baby abandonment. Unmarried women hide their pregnancies, deliver and abandon their babies, and later are rushed to the hospital with postdelivery complications. While biomedical doctors deal with the debris of infanticide (postpartum hemorrhage), there is no formal accounting of the practice. I argue that by regarding infanticide as a form of reproductive disruption, we can open up women’s narratives of pain and suffering that are silenced because of moral repugnance.
Notes
1. 1. Zara is a pseudonym, as are all the other names in this piece.
2. 2. Here, he is referring to Mifepristone.
3. 3. There is no consensus on whether infanticide is killing of newborn up to a certain age or time period, although the term ‘neonaticide’ refers to killing of a newborn up within 24 hours of a delivery.
4. 4. A standard definition of foeticide is the deliberate extermination of a fetus, which can be done by causing harm to the mother, consuming poisons and products, etc.
5. 5. Also complicating the discussion of infanticide are ethical arguments about infanticide and abortion. For example, some ethicists have examined the moral status of infanticide and have concluded that it is morally acceptable in certain cases (Singer Citation1993; Tooley Citation1974).
6. 6. While many infanticide stories were circulating at the same time—some from the recent past and some that had happened recently—I estimate that I heard at least ten distinct infanticide stories.
7. 7. Both tubal ligation and laproligation are performed in Ladakh. While abortion is legal in India, it is rarely performed in Ladakh, as there are only a few gynecologists who are willing to perform the procedure (and only for married women). Further complicating this discussion of abortion in India, scholars have noted that the English word ‘abortion’ sometimes refers to both miscarriage and abortion (Jeffery et al Citation1989).
8. 8. Medical technologies and specialists are based in Leh and Kargil hospital, although the Health Department has begun to postgynecologists in regional subdistrict hospitals and Primary Health Centers (PHCs). From 2007 to 2008, there were five gynecologists in Ladakh serving a population of over 236,000—two in Leh’s SNM hospital; two in Kargil’s hospital; and one retired gynecologist in Leh.
9. 9. Although there were numerous accounts of this story—she delivered in her home; she delivered the baby in a field by the bus stand—the body of the baby was later found under a pile of rocks outside the home.
10. 10. Since 1996, there has been a law in place to prevent prenatal testing abuse. The ‘Pre-Conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Prohibition and Regulation Act’ was revised in 2003 (Khanna Citation2009)
11. 11. This was the only story I heard of a mother helping her daughter ‘get rid of the baby.’ However, others have written of the role of female relatives in controlling young women’s fertility (Kadir et al. Citation2003).
12. 12. The ultrasound became available in Leh hospital in 2001. As of 2011, another ultrasound had been posted in Diskit subdistrict hospital.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jennifer Aengst
Jennifer Aengst is adjunct professor at Portland State University and Senior Research Associate at Oregon Health and Sciences University. Her scholarship focuses on the politics of reproduction, gender, and technologies in South Asia. Her current research examines the production of scientific knowledge, the movement of biomedicalization, and the role that culture plays in the development and dissemination of new technologies.