Alarming rise in fetuses found in garbage dumps

There is again an alarming rise in dead fetuses found in garbage dumps in Karachi, according to the data collected by two major welfare organisations Edhi and Chhipa.

“The number of fetuses found in the city has risen alarmingly as most of the unborn babies are recovered from the garbage dumps,” said Mohammad Salman, in charge Emergency and Media Centre, Edhi Foundation.

Faisal Edhi, Chief of Edhi Foundation, says they keep receiving expired infants at regular intervals and since January this year, the number has gone up to more than 200 from Karachi alone. He said the majority of dead bodies are of boys and if we look at the country’s data, it would be three times higher than Karachi, he claimed.

According to the statistics compiled by the Edhi Foundation, a total of 211 bodies of infants and unborn children, including 57 boys and 54 girls, were handed over to the foundation for burial.

According to Faisal, “Some girls who work as maids become the target of sexual abuse at homes, particularly in posh areas. Instead of speaking out, maids prefer to remain quiet and hide the incident to keep the family’s prestige. That’s probably why they opt for abortions,” he added.

According to Salman, girls who start expecting due to illicit relationships, and when they find out about their pregnancies in the fourth and fifth months, it generally gets too late for them to seek any other option but to abort the child and dump their fetus at garbage points in a move to save themselves from humiliation.

Faisal said the Edhi Foundation had informed the public to leave unwanted babies in their cradles instead of killing them. Our foundation, he said, is willing to take care of the babies and there are cradles outside our offices for this purpose. He said to have received many children who are now taken care of by the foundation.

The Chhipa Welfare Organisation also claimed to have received a rising number of dead infants. The Coordinator, Mohammad Shahid told this scribe that their chief Ramzan Chhipa has appealed to the public to hand over their babies instead of abandoning them in dumps.

However, Shahid apprised that parents started giving their deceased children to the Chhipa organization for burial as they could not afford the cost of the funeral.

In Karachi, there are more than 200 graveyards including those which belong to specific communities. Some graveyards have notified that there is no space left for burial, sources in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) said. The government charges to reserve a grave is Rs9,500 while the expenses for a burial range between 35 thousand to 100 thousand rupees; depending on the graveyard and the area where it is located.

If one does not have the government fees, and the extra charges for gravediggers, he is not allowed to bury the dead. And that is the reason why the welfare organisations have been getting more bodies because many people do not have the means to carry out the funeral, the sources said.