KARACHI: Dai is an upcoming series on Urduflix that looks at illegal abortions and the lengths to which women go to achieve them since society can be extremely harsh towards them.
The series will be up and running on Urdu Flix official. Nauman Khan serves as the producer of the project. Sharing the teaser for the series on his Facebook, he wrote, “Thanks Farhan Gauher for trusting and believing in me and my skills. I seriously hope I will do complete justice to your trust and bring entertainment and great content to the audience and Urdu Flix Official.”
Farhan Gauher serves as the executive producer for the upcoming series.
Illegal abortions is an issue that poses a major health risk to women in Pakistan. While in emergency cases women are allowed by law to save themselves over the unborn child, in many cases their lives are weighed alongside the unborn child’s, with consideration often given to the latter. There is often shame associated with abortions, and in cases of rape and unwanted pregnancies, women are forced to conceive their children and take their pregnancy to full term. But what happens when they have no other choice? What if their circumstances or choices steer them away from having a child and make it impossible for them to bring another life into this world? The result is illegal abortions.
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In 1990, the Pakistan government revised the colonial-era Penal Code of 1860 with respect to abortion. The revisions sought to conform better to Islamic teachings regarding offenses against the human body. Under the 1990 revision, the conditions for legal abortion depend on the developmental stage of the fetus—that is, whether the fetus’ organs are formed or not. Islamic scholars have usually considered the fetus’ organs to be formed by the fourth month of gestation. Before the formation of the organs, abortions are permitted to save the woman’s life or in order to provide “necessary treatment.” After organs are formed, abortions are permitted only to save the woman’s life.
– Source: United Nations Population Division, Abortion Policies: A Global Review, New York: United Nations, 2002.
Another reason is also lack of access to proper healthcare and supervised induced abortion. In a number of rural areas of Pakistan, a lack of gynecologists makes women turn to nonprofessionals locally known as ‘Dai’ for procedures related to their reproductive health. Dai is a woman who is a practitioner without professional textbook knowledge. This in turn can create more reproductive health issues for these women, some even life-threatening.
It is necessary for Pakistan to look at this issue. Kudos to Urduflix and the production team of Dai for picking up the topic and highlighting it.
