Bhubaneswar, Oct. 26: The social evil of abandoning girl child surfaced here today with residents spotting a newborn in a bush along a drain at Unit-VIII.

The baby had injury marks on several parts of the body when residents spotted her and informed the Nayapalli police station.

Police rescued the girl child and admitted her to Capital Hospital and from there she was shifted to Sishu Bhavan in Cuttack.

Inspector in-charge of Nayapalli police station Suryamani Pradhan said the police rushed to the spot the moment information about the abandoned child reached them.

"We took the baby to the Capital Hospital for an emergency check up since she had serious injury marks on her body," he said.

The incident of gender discrimination in the heart of the city has shaken up the civil society.

According to the 2011 census, the total population in the age group 0-9 was 77,27,797 of which 51.29 per cent were males and 48.71 per cent females.

This indicates that the child sex ratio in this age group is a poor 950 girls per 1,000 boys.

Health department officials said that it was an irony that the state was once known for its balanced sex ratio, which was 1,001 girls per 1,000 boys.

The officials said that the corresponding figure today was 979 females per 1,000 males. The country's average is, however, 943 females per 1,000 males.

Prenatal sex determination and female feticide were believed to be the chief reasons for the drastic change in the sex ratio, whereas today's incident has thrown light on the practice to abandon girl child.

This year, 130 individuals and organisations had been hauled up for carrying out sex determination tests in Bhubaneswar, Nayagarh, Kendrapada and Balasore.

In Balasore, the chief district medical officer was arrested for a related offence.

Social activists feel feudal mentality leads parents to abandon the girl child.

"The rooting for sons is not new in Odia society. If the government is so keen to promote one or two children policy, it should equip parents with enough awareness to shed their feudal longing for boys. This can only happen through improved education facilities. We might feel happy that the state's average is better than the national figure but our target should be alongside socially advanced states such as Kerala. Being ahead of Haryana should not make was complacent," said social activist Tapasi Praharaj.