Indian women bikers raise awareness against female foeticide

Four Indian women bikers have completed a 10,000-km trip to 10 Asian countries over 40 days to raise awareness against female foeticide.
The four-woman motorcycle team has visited schools and universities as well as non-governmental organizations in countries such as Bhutan and Thailand, explaining their campaign and calling for education against gender bias.
In Singapore, the four also called on Indian High Commissioner Vijay Thakur Singh.
Psychologist Sarika Mehta, 40, led the 10,000-km ride which ended in Singapore after the four crossed the causeway from Malaysia on Tuesday.
Said Sarika, founder of the 'Biking Queens' group, "While the problem of female foeticide is huge in India, we believe it is also a global problem and can happen anywhere".

In India, the baby female-to-male ratio has been dropping, partly because of female foeticide. In 2001, there were 927 girls to 1,000 boys; in 2011, the figure fell to 919 girls.

Female foeticide within Indian society had increased especially with the improved technology to determine the sex of a baby in the early stages of pregnancy.
The other three members of the group are - interior designer Yugma Desai, 27, travel agent Durriya Tapia, 36, and Khyati Desai, 31, who works in human resources.
"We commend their strengthen and willpower to campaign to educate the world about the girl child," said Chandra Mohan, secretary of the Global Organisation of People of India Origin (GOPIO) after hosting a lunch reception today.

"It is a challenging task to ride across Asian countries and educate others on the need to promote girl education and work against female foeticide," Chandra said.