India parents 'reject newborn girl for baby boy'

Source: BBC

A newborn Indian girl has been left unwanted as her presumed parents seek custody of a baby boy handed to them by mistake, officials say.

The two babies were born on the same night in a hospital in the western Indian city of Jodhpur a week ago.

The couple refused to accept the girl after accidentally being given the boy, who belongs to another couple, the hospital says.

Indian society has a long history of discrimination against girls.

The pair, Poonam Kanwar and her husband, Chain Singh, have rejected the findings of a blood test suggesting that the girl is theirs, officials at the Umaid Hospital said.

Instead, they are fighting a couple identified by the hospital as the male baby's parents for custody of the boy.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17587284