Kuri-mar

Kuri-mar (or Kudi-mar)^[1] is a Punjabi phrase which literally means "girl killer".^[2][3][4] Various rehat-namas including the Sikh Rehat Maryada prohibited the practice.^[5][6] Today, the term also encompasses female foeticide and may refer to North-western regions of India which have skewed sex ratios.^[2]

Overview

Various rehat-namas, philosophical and semi-theological codes of patronage, arbitration and conduct in Dharmic schools of thought, including the Sikh Rehat Maryada prohibited the practice.^[4][3][7]

In 1699,^[6] Guru Govind Singh, while baptizing, had prohibited the new followers from marrying, eating or sitting with five clans or sects. The clans or sects were - Mina D'hirmal, the descendants of Pirthi Mal who tried to poison Guru Arjun, Musandia, who proclaimed themselves gurus and followed heterodox doctrines, Ram Rayi, the descendants of Ram Ray, who caused the death of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Kudi Mar, who destroyed their own daughters, and Bhadani, who shaved their head and beard.^[5][8][1] The Sikh Rehat Maryada, published in 1950, prohibits the practice strictly.^[9]

See also

• Female infanticide in India
• Doodh peeti

References

1. Horace Hayman Wilson; Reinhold Rost (1862). Essays and Lectures Chiefly on the Religion of the Hindus by the Late H. H. Wilson: Miscellanuous essays and lectures. 2. Trubner. pp. 148–149. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
2. Tulsi Patel (2007). Sex-Selective Abortion in India: Gender, Society and New Reproductive Technologies. SAGE Publications. pp. 242, 419. ISBN 978-0-7619-3539-1. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
3. Veena Talwar Oldenburg; Veena Talwar (2010). Dowry Murder: Reinvestigating A Cultural. Penguin Books India. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-14-306399-5. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
4. W. H. McLeod (24 July 2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. pp. 65–66, 119. ISBN 978-0-8108-6344-6. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
5. Quintin Craufurd (1817). Researches Concerning the Laws, Theology, Learning, Commerce Etc. of Ancient and Modern India. - London, T. Cadell & W. Davies 1817. T. Cadell & W. Davies. pp. 344–345. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
6. Amardeep S. Dahiya (1 December 2013). Founder of the Khalsa: The Life and Times of Guru Gobind Singh. Hay House, Inc. p. 146. ISBN 978-93-81398-61-6. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
7. Kamlesh Mohan (2006). Towards Gender History: Images, Identities, and Roles of North Indian Women with Special Reference to Panjab. Aakar. pp. 37, 52. ISBN 978-81-87879-65-7. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
8. Later Mughal. Atlantic Publishers & Distri. 1971. p. 81. GGKEY:127HGC10PTU. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
9. Pashaura Singh; Louis E. Fenech (27 March 2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. OUP Oxford. p. 620. ISBN 978-0-19-100411-7. Retrieved 14 November 2015.