Patna: A man in Bihar has divorced his wife after she gave birth to a second baby girl.

The woman has now filed a case with the police and courts, hoping to get justice soon.

Shagufta Khatoon a resident of Chamandiha village in southern Bihar’s Nawada district, was shockedwhen her husband Irshad Alam, uttered the word ‘talaq’ thrice just when she had reached home from the hospital after giving birth.

According to some interpretations of Sharia, a Muslim man may divorce his wife by speaking the word “talaq”, which means “I divorce you”, three times in quick succession to her.

Alam already had a daughter with her and wanted a son this time, apparently leaving him incensed.

“It’s devastating for her and ourselves alike. How could she have chosen the sex of her second child? Was this in her hands?,” asked the victim’s father Jasimuddin Khan, also hoping to get justice from the court.

According to the woman, the couple was married seven years back and everything was fine in the family until she started bearing girls. The victim is shocked at the way she was “punished” for something out of her control.

Discrimination on the basis of gender is quite common in Bihar and there have been several incidents of girl children, as well as their mothers, being treated with disdain despite continuing awareness campaigns by the government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has launched much-publicised “Selfies with Daughters” campaign aimed at promoting equality for girl children.

In July this year, a man from Jamui district of Bihar slit open the throat of his wife with a sharp-edged knife after she gave birth to her fourth daughter. In the same month, a 30-year-old woman was beaten to death by her in-laws in Gaya district for allegedly giving birth to fifth daughter in quick succession.

Yet another woman was burnt to death in Muzaffarpur district the same month after she had given birth to two daughters at a time.

Earlier in February, a man from Bhagalpur district killed his 16-month-old daughter by allegedly injecting poison into her body, prompting mother to register case against her husband.

In her complaint petition, victim’s mother Neha Devi alleged that she had gone out for work when her husband Amit Kumar Singh injected poison into her daughter’s body, leading to her death.

“When I returned home, I saw my daughter twisting her body with pain. She died soon after,” Devi alleged.

Gender discrimination is quite prevalent in Bihar and, according to a report, the sex ratio in at least nine districts of the state’s total 38 is less than 900 girls, against state’s average of 916, per 1000 males.

The districts reporting unpleasant stories are Patna, capital of Bihar, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, vaishali, Begusarai, Khagaria, Bhagalpur and Munger.