The issues of female infanticide and female foeticide have acquired considerable public prominence, in the context of the discussions
on adverse sex-ratio in India. In the literature on adverse sex-ratio, using anthropological and demographic perspectives, there are
several attempts to understand these practices, whose impact might lead to gender imbalances. Yet, this paper contests that such
explanations remain comparatively inadequate in explaining the phenomenon of female infanticide and female feticide. It is intriguing to
note that female infanticide which was claimed to be effectively controlled in pre-independent India has resurfaced in post-independent
India not just among the communities which were historically alleged to have been associated with practices of female infanticide and
female feticide, but even among communities and regions where it was previously unknown. Added to the practice of female infanticide,
is female foeticide, thanks to the arrival of medical technologies. It is argued and even proved empirically in the context of north India
that development in communication, transport and health sectors has resulted in comparative decline of female infanticide and feticide.
However in this paper, on the basis of empirical studies, I argue that in South India there are increasing signs of female infanticide and
feticide in some regions and some groups amidst development and relative prosperity. I attempt to explain this through kinship and
marriage rules changing forms of economic relationship, health infrastructure, education, son preference/daughter neglect, overall
prosperity and patriarchy.

Study with special reference to Salem District, Tamil Nadu, India.