foeticide

This anti-girl bias, coupled with the easy availability of pre-natal sex screening from the 1970s, has seen tens of millions of female foetuses aborted - a process known as female foeticide.

He does agree that female foeticide has been declining in Punjab and Haryana - where a majority of Sikhs live - over the years.

Abortions have been legal in India since 1971, although with conditions, especially to curb female foeticide in a country with an overwhelming preference for sons.

In the decade of 1990s when Priya was born, female foeticide was rampant in the district.

During "official inspection" in central and eastern UP districts, he said, he found "many illegal ultrasound clinics operating with impunity" - which means female foeticide remains rampant.