A man in Heilongjiang province stuck four needles into his 56-day-old daughter's body in the mistaken belief that that would ensure his next child is a son. Apart from condemning the man for his superstitious beliefs, law enforcers should impose the strictest possible punishment on him to deter other people from following his ugly example, says an article in Beijing Times. Excerpts:

The Heilongjiang incident is not the only one of its kind. A similar incident has been reported from Huai'an, Jiangsu province.

The baby girl's family in Heilongjiang was indifferent to the tragedy, and even tried to prevent the hospital from reporting the case to police. It's sad and shocking to see that families still have a blind "preference for boys". And it's shameful to know that such a prejudiced tradition is still practiced in today's society.

In Huai'an's rural areas, many families still "prefer sons to daughters". A family without a son in Huai'an faces "social pressure" and a mother still feels "ashamed" of giving birth to a girl. In fact, daughters are randomly discriminated against in many areas. Some families continue to detest and ill-treat girls because of their belief in feudal ideas, which often leads to tragedy.

Such outrageous attitude toward girls is demeaning to humanity and deserves the severest possible punishment. Cases like the ones in Heilongjiang and Jiangsu show that gender discrimination is still a serious problem in some areas of the country.

Society as a whole, especially with the active help of law enforcement agencies, has to fight against such superstitious beliefs to avoid a repeat of the Heilongjiang incident.