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-- Eleven government doctors in India's western state of Rajasthan have been suspended on suspicion of carrying out sex determination tests and aborting female foetuses, officials said on Thursday.
Despite laws banning such tests, used to abort unborn girls, female infanticide is common in several regions of India where families view boys as being a better asset than girls.
Social activists say local authorities have been slow to implement legislation that has been in force since 1996. There has been only one conviction from 387 cases lodged under the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PNDT).
"We, in the last over 45 days, have suspended 11 government doctors and are taking action against 30 private doctors on charges of violating the PNDT act and practicing female foeticide," a senior official from Rajasthan's health ministry told Reuters.
The move comes after an undercover television report into abortions of unborn girls, which exposed doctors carrying out sex determination tests and convincing mothers to terminate pregnancies if the foetus was female.
A joint study carried out by researchers in India and Canada recently suggested that half-a-million unborn girls may be aborted in India every year. --
