India's 2011 census shows a serious decline in the number of girls under the age of seven - activists fear eight million female foetuses may have been aborted in the past decade. The BBC's Geeta Pandey in Delhi explores what has led to this crisis.
Kulwant has three daughters aged 24, 23 and 20 and a son who is 16.
In the years between the birth of her third daughter and her son, Kulwant became pregnant three times.
Each time, she says, she was forced to abort the foetus by her family after ultrasound tests confirmed that they were girls.
"My mother-in-law taunted me for giving birth to girls. She said her son would divorce me if I didn't bear a son."
***
more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13264301http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13331808http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13385727http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13421267There are four closely related stories -- you can click on the tabs directly beneath the title