ASHA Worker Allegedly Forces Daughter-In-Law To Miscarry Fearing 3rd Girl Child

Police here have registered a case against an ASHA worker and five others for allegedly forcing her pregnant daughter-in-law to miscarry over fear that a third girl child would be born, officials said on Wednesday.

A police officer said the ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) worker, her son, and four other family members have been booked.

They have been booked for causing miscarriage without the woman's consent, subjecting her to cruelty for dowry, voluntarily causing hurt, intentional insult, criminal intimidation, and under provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act, he added.

According to the complainant, she has been harassed by her husband and in-laws for dowry ever since her marriage in 2017.

The aggrieved woman was regularly subjected to abuse and was pressured to bring Rs 1 lakh from her parents, especially after giving birth to two daughters, the police officer said.

When she became pregnant for the third time in March 2024, her mother-in-law said that they "did not need another daughter". The mother-in-law and the husband allegedly the woman to have the pills that led to a miscarriage, he said.

It has also been alleged that after the woman met the in-laws' dowry demands, she was "thrown out" of the house with her two daughters on March 21, 2024.

The woman filed a petition in the civil judge (women harassment) court on April 13, 2024, seeking legal action. Acting on her plea, the court directed the police on December 17 to register an FIR against all six accused.

"An FIR has been filed and we are conducting a thorough investigation into the matter," the police officer added.

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