Note the sequence of questions which have led us our next question about son preference.
1.What is the cause of the low well-being measures in India
2. What is different between India and Kerala?
3. Why is the survival rate of women less in India?
4. What is the cause of fatal daughter syndrome?
The reader not familiar with the Hindu culture may need to review the importance of familialism prevailing throughout India (noted above as one of two constant differences between India and the West). Individual choice is allowed in India on the condition that such choices serve the interest of the larger family of the individual. In addition, caste and class within caste are matters of pre-eminent importance to Indian families.
This account follows the customs among the higher castes and classes which may set norms for others in their regions and localities. Sons may take wives from families of equal class standing, or if large dowries are offered sons may marry wives from families of a slightly lower class. A transfer of wealth overcomes the misalliance problem. Daughters may only marry up or laterally within class. A significant dowry may be required of the daughter's natal family in either case.
In a class hierarchy with fewer families at the top, the rule for daughters marrying up but never down within class creates an acute need for more sons and less daughters at the hierarchy apex. The need for more sons gets translated within the life process of each family into an urgent family need to dispose of surplus daughters. Recall that we are speaking of an extend Indian family ruled by a patriarch.
There was clear evidence of female infanticide in such high caste/class families in the nineteenth century. (Viswanth) In the twentieth century there is little or no evidence of infanticide. Instead there is girl child neglect increasing the numbers of sons relative to daughters. That is, the relative mortality rates of little girls versus boys explains the low female/male ratios in India.
The Families in India description offers a fuller account of the son preference in India---son preference causing fatal daughter syndrome. It may be important to hold in mind that fatal daughter syndrome does not originate in the lower castes and classes and is absent in Kerala and among the tribal peoples of India. (Raju) To the extent that fatal daughter syndrome happens in the lower castes, it may be a partial imitation of the behavior of the higher castes in a process called diffusion. (Bhat)