Punjab: Bhupinder Singh and Manjit Kaur are in mourning. Their daughter died soon after she was born.

They claim she died due to midwives' negligence, but the administration isn't letting them off easy. Government doctors will now perform an autopsy on their infant daughter to rule out any possibility of female infanticide.

A new directive issued by the authorities in Nawashahar district makes autopsies mandatory on all girl children who have died before the age of two.

"My daughter's head had got stuck and she died because of that," says Manjit Kaur though as way of explanation.

Adds Bhupinder Singh, "We had got a village mid wife who said she would handle the delivery but later could not. Our daughter has died but we had to take great trouble to save my wife Manjit."

Punjab has one of the lowest sex ratios in the country and the Nawashahar administration has reason to keep a tight check on female infanticide.

In the last Census in 2001, the district had a sex ratio of 771 females for every 1,000 males, the lowest in the state. However, the authorities now claim that now the sex ratio in the district has risen to 921 females for 1,000 males due to such measures.

Says Deputy Commissioner, Nawanshahr, Krishan Kumar, "The people here need to know what is the cause of death, whether it is pneumonia or any other disease so that the doctors can stay alert in the future."

Authorities say no cases of female infanticide have been registered after this order was issued and the district officials say they are determined to continue with strict measures to prevent female infanticide as survival of the girl child is paramount.

(With inputs from Parminder Singh Bariana in Nawashahr and Mansi Sharma in New Delhi)