A 35-year-old woman in Jasdan taluka of Rajkot set herself ablaze and died on Thursday, days after giving birth to her fifth child—all girls. The incident occurred barely a fortnight after a statewide campaign by the influential Patels to save the girl child.

According to the Jasdan police, Madhu Parmar was depressed after the birth of another girl child, as the family members were hoping for a boy. Unable to cope up with the pressure, she committed suicide 12 days after the delivery.

Although the police have registered a case of suicide, they are investigating if Madhu’s in-laws or her husband harassed her for not delivering a boy. She had been living with her husband and in-laws at Sarpipaliya village in Jasdan.

The police said the charred body was found from the outskirts of Barwada, her parental village.

“Her husband Vala Parmar is an agricultural labourer. The couple have been married for over 10 years, and always wanted a male child. Hoping for a boy, Madhu became pregnant five times in 10 years,” said the police. The other four daughters are in the age group of two to nine years.

The police said that Madhu had left for her parental house within five days of the delivery, as she was not talking to anybody in the village. Her parents told the police that she remained quiet for most of the time after the delivery and showed little interest in household chores.

The incident assumes significance as the state government has initiated a series of programmes, including empowering the district health officers to crack down on clinics carrying out sex determination tests, in a bid to check the skewed sex ratio.

To spread awareness among the masses, a campaign was recently organised from Surat to Saurashtra.

Members of the Legislative Assembly, Members of Parliament and government officials were among those who participated in the programme.