Court emphasises need to educate society on gender determination

The Delhi High Court on Thursday observed that parents who give their daughters-in-law a hard time for not being able to fulfil their desire of “preserving their family tree”, need to be educated that it is their son and not the wife whose chromosomes will decide the child’s gender.

The court was dealing with a case of dowry death of a woman after being allegedly harassed by her husband and in-laws for bringing insufficient dowry and giving birth to two daughters. It said that in contemporary times, the idea of a woman’s worth being tied to material considerations contradicts the principles of equality and dignity.

“The persistent prevalence of regressive mindsets and instances exemplified by cases involving insatiable demands for dowry underscores a broader societal concern. It highlights the challenges faced by married women, whose intrinsic value and dignity should not be contingent upon their parents’ ability to meet the insatiable financial demands from their in-laws,” the bench said. Furthermore, it stated that these are disturbing circumstances wherein parents wish for the well-being of their daughter and her comfort after she leaves her paternal house and tries to settle in the matrimonial home but instead of providing her love and support, the new bride is met with unrelenting greed and harassment from in-laws family.

According to the court, the trauma is often multiplied becoming a lifelong ordeal when the victim of a dowry-related offence gives up her life due to constant torture and harassment, especially when the two daughters she has given birth to and loved also become a ground to harass and traumatise her as if she is solely responsible for the child’s gender.

“Surprisingly, the genetic science in this regard is ignored according to which, the genetic determination of gender of the unborn child when the child is conceived, involves the combination of X and Y chromosomes, with females possessing two X chromosomes (XX) and males having one X and one Y chromosome (XY).”