Some weeks ago the bodies of two new-born babies, a boy and a girl, were found at two separate refuse dumps in Korangi. This type of murder of new-borns and disposal of their dead bodies on garbage jumps is growing apace in congested residential parts of industrial areas and anywhere in the city where whole villages of hutments spring up virtually overnight.
One welfare organisation claims there are 'dozens' of similar cases each month. Edhi Trust and Chhipa have set up cradles in every corner of the city. They plead with people not to kill new-borns but to place them in the cradles. However, according to Chhipa which launched a massive campaign last year to prevent death of unwanted babies, their efforts have met with little success.
The burning question is: why kill? The guilty could as well leave a live baby on the wretched garbage dump as a dead one. The act of murdering new-borns simply does not make sense. The little victims are too small to identify their parents. There is urgent need to study the psychology of those who murder new-borns.
In the absence of such a study, one can only speculate, but perhaps these speculations may serve a purpose. The important fact is that killing unwanted babies is an urban crime. It is rare in villages. Karachi District has villages and it is significant that this crime is equally rare in Karachi villages, especially on the islands such as Baba Bhit.
A related fact is that the growing number of cases seems to be in such parts of the city where labour from upcountry and refugees have settled. The noteworthy fact is that these people who have come to the city in search of jobs hail from villages. This transition from village to urban set up causes a change in social life. In the villages the people have an identity. The business of everyone is known to everyone and such a crime cannot be hidden, if it takes place at all. But in the city they have no local identity. This gives freedom for greater expression of criminal urges.
Crime reporters are of the opinion that anywhere in the city where people live in cramped spaces, the incident of illegitimate babies is common. They mention that the crime is as common in places like Azam Basti, Liaquatabad, Orangi as in the hutments of upcountry labour and refugees.
Their observation explains the rise in the number of illegitimate births, but it does not explain why new-born babies are killed. The fact remains, the rising number of dead new-born babies is usually found in places where people from upcountry have recently settled.
A probable reason for killing new-borns could be fear. The new settlers in the city bring with them the social norms of the villages. There is a deep set fear of honour killing among them. So, it seems, the crime of murdering unwanted babies could be induced by the fear of honour killing. It is a mindless act, as any wrongdoing out of fear usually is.
The murder of new-born babies is a crime under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 329 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which states, "Whoever, by secretly burying or otherwise disposing of the body of a child whether the child dies before (abortion) or after or during birth, intentionally conceals or endeavours to conceal the birth of such a child, shall be punished with imprisonment... for a term of two years, or with a fine, or with both."
The astonishing fact is that this crime is never registered by the Police, hence there is no penal record of the killing of new-born babies. On the other hand, the dead body of an adult found anywhere is registered against "persons unknown". Why, then, the killing of new-born babies is not registered in similar manner?
The Police frankly state it is not worth the trouble. Primarily because the high-ups in government are disinterested in such deaths. The other reason is that the registration would involve lengthy procedure of investigation which is, according to the Police, a waste of time since the authorities are also not interested in the murder of a new-born.
Crime reporters tell grisly stories about the disposal of dead bodies of illegitimate babies. Not all dead new-borns end on the garbage dumps, they say. A great number are simply buried under the floor of the room in which the birth took place. One reporter told a ghastly tale reported by their housemaid to his mother, who later recounted it to him. The maid's younger sister was raped by her uncle. The sister was confined to the house in the period of her pregnancy and after the birth the child was killed, (she heard one little yelp from the baby), and then buried in a deep hole in the floor. Soon after, the mother of the illegitimate baby was married off to a man who was financially better off than the husband of their housemaid. The housemaid resent this end to the tale. She felt it was unfair that a wrongdoer should live in more comfort than herself.
Welfare organisations are struggling to prevent the killing of new-born babies, but their cradles remain empty while nearly every other day a poor dead mite is found on a garbage dump. Some have been found in sewers, in gutters and the roadside.
Edhi Trust and Chhipa will continue to meet with little success in their mission to save lives if the authorities continue to ignore the killing of new-born babies.
What is behind this heartless attitude of the high-ups? Some of my colleagues believe it is simply due to embarrassment. There is an innate embarrassment to discuss any aspect of illegitimacy, they say. Some say it is due to ignorance of the number of murder of new-born babies since there is no penal registration of such incidents.
Another opinion is that there is no public pressure to induce them to take an interest in the deaths. They also say that the welfare organisations do not approach any person in authority to take an interest in this dastardly crime. It is also claimed that there is no pressure on authority from the NGOs to take cognisance of the crime.
But do high-ups really need a goad in order to do something in this matter? Everyone of them reads newspapers and watches television where news of the discovery of murdered new-borns is often reported. Do these newsitems fail to motivate them to voluntarily take up the issue? The killing of new-born babies is shocking: does it not shock those who are in authority, not any one of them?
There is no interest even among the men of religion. They may sermonise about morality and condemn wrongdoers, but they do not focus specifically on the killing of unwanted babies. If the clerics launched a campaign against the crime, I am confident there will be a drastic reduction in the number of dead new-borns and the cradles of Edhi Trust and Chhipa will be full.
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