UP man gets life term for slitting pregnant wife's abdomen to find baby's gender

A fast-track court in Budaun Uttar Pradesh on Friday sentenced a 38-year-old man to life imprisonment for slitting his pregnant wife's abdomen to find the gender of their unborn child.

According to the police complaint, in September 2020, Pannalal attacked his wife Anita, who was eight months pregnant with their sixth child, and cut her abdomen open with a sickle.

The accused wanted a boy as the couple already had five daughters, the police said.

Anita survived the attack but the child had to be aborted, they said. The doctors later informed the family that the aborted fetus was a boy, the police said.

Based on the complaint, the police had registered an FIR against Pannalal under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 313 (causing miscarriage without women's consent) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the police said.

Additional District Government Counsel (ADGC) Munendra Pal told PTI that the police filed a chargesheet against Pannalal.

"The matter was heard in the court of additional session judge (fast-track court) Saurabh Saxena. The court awarded life imprisonment to Pannalal and also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on him," Pal said.

Meanwhile, Anita welcomed the court's decision, saying she has finally received justice after waiting for four years.

She told PTI that she continues to live in the same house in the Nekpur locality where she was fatally attacked by her husband, whose parents also live nearby.

Anita alleged that when Pannalal got bail earlier, he entered her house on several occasions and beat her up. He also vandalised the house, she added.

"In his desire to have a son, Pannalal attacked me fatally and killed our child in the womb. Pannalal used to run a sweet shop in the locality and his business was doing good. After he was released on bail after serving two years of jail sentence, he had again opened a samosa shop near the court," she said.

Anita further alleged that she was pressurised to withdraw the case and even threatened to be killed.

She said if her husband had not attacked her that day, his wish of having a son would have been fulfilled.

Anita said she will always be saddened by the thought that her son died before coming into the world but she is happy that Pannalal has been punished for his crime.

She supports her five daughters and herself by running a small grocery shop in her house.