The Story of a Girl Child
Photo: Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo
There s usually a festive atmosphere in a household before a baby is born, with family members gathering and cheering in anticipation of the arrival of the new member of the clan, with sweets and whatnot at the ready. However, that laughter and happiness often fade when it transpires that the baby is a girl. The tragedy of her life begins with her first breath.
Let us imagine the journey of this girl child in our society against the backdrop of our sociocultural reality. As it is the month of Falgun now, let us call her, this hypothetical child, by that name. While Falgun may not be a real person, her experiences are shared by many. Falgun, like many other infants, is born underweight and premature, as one-fifth of the babies born in Bangladesh are. The neonatal mortality rate is 19.1 deaths per 1000 births in Bangladesh, while the Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Health Care Survey 2016 estimated 196 maternal deaths per 10