AHMEDABAD: Gujarat reported only five girl-child victims under foeticide during 2022-24, according to data placed before the Rajya Sabha. However, a separate set of state-reported data reveals a more disturbing enforcement signal: 28 cases of communicating the gender of a foetus were registered in Gujarat during 2023-25, with cases jumping from four in 2023 to 19 in 2024 before falling to five in 2025.
The data points to a sharp enforcement challenge around illegal sex determination even as officially recorded foeticide cases remain relatively low.
Gujarat’s official data presents a striking contradiction in the fight against female foeticide, the number of recorded girl-child victims under foeticide remains small, while cases involving illegal communication of foetal gender have risen sharply. The figures were disclosed by the Union Health Ministry in a Rajya Sabha reply on August 11.
According to NCRB data placed in the Upper House, Gujarat recorded two girl-child victims under foeticide in 2022, one in 2023 and two in 2024, taking the three-year total to five. Nationally, the corresponding figures were 61, 37 and 98, respectively.
On the face of it, Gujarat accounted for just five of the 196 girl-child victims recorded nationally during 2022-24, or around 2.6%. However, the low number of recorded victims should not automatically be read as proof that the underlying problem is negligible, because the data measures reported and recorded cases, not the total incidence of sex selection or foeticide.
The more revealing trend emerges from the data on cases registered for cases involving communication/disclosure of foetal sex in the body. Gujarat recorded four cases in 2023, a dramatic 19 cases in 2024 and five cases in 2025, adding up to 28 cases over three years.
The jump in 2024 is significant. Cases increased from four to 19 in a single year, meaning Gujarat recorded 15 more cases and nearly five times the previous year’s figure. Although registrations fell to five in 2025, the number remained higher than the 2023 level.