Doodh peeti was a method of female infanticide in which newborns were drowned in pails or pits of cow milk (doodh). The practice was prevalent in the Saurashtra and Kutch region of India. The phrase is an euphemism literal meaning "feeding of milk".
History
During a census in 1805, the British officials found almost no girls in Jhareya Rajput families of the Kutch and Kathiawar regions. The 11th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica (1910) noted under the topic Infanticide that this method was practiced by some Rajputs to avoid paying dowry later. It noted that Rajahs sometimes paid over £100,000 as a dowry. The British resident in Baroda, Colonel Walker, insisted on banning the practice while signing pacts with the local Rajputs. The practice however continued until the late 19th century.