UP: Father of 5 daughters cuts open pregnant wife's belly to check baby's gender
Panna Lal was sentenced to life in prison for slashing open his pregnant wife’s stomach with a sickle to check the baby’s gender. He was married for 22 years and had five daughters
Panna Lal, a resident of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh was sentenced to life in prison for slashing open his pregnant wife’s stomach with a sickle to check the baby’s gender.
He had attacked Anita, his wife of 22 years, in September 2020 after he fought with her for not giving him a boy. They had five daughters.
Anita's family was aware of the problems she was facing and tried to convince Panna Lal to stop fighting. However, he had threatened to divorce Anita and marry another woman to father a son.
The attack
On that fateful day, Panna Lal picked an argument with his pregnant wife over the gender of the unborn baby again. He warned her that he would cut open her stomach to check if it was a boy or a girl. Anita fought back, and an enraged Panna Lal attacked her with a sickle.
Anita, who was eight months pregnant at the time, tried to escape but he grabbed her and used the sickle to cut open her stomach. In her statement to the court, Anita said the cut was so deep that her intestines were left hanging from her stomach.
She ran out onto the street clutching her stomach and her brother, who worked at a nearby shop, heard her screaming and came to her rescue. On seeing him, Panna Lal ran away.
Ironic and tragic
Anita was rushed to the hospital and survived the attack. But what was ironic and tragic is that the baby, who turned out to be a boy, could not be saved. In court, Panna Lal said that his wife had cut herself because he was in a property dispute with her brothers.
