India village holds 'selfies with daughters' contest

A family in Bibipur takes a selfie with a girl child

A village in India recently held an unique contest to raise consciousness about girl children: click a selfie with your daughter and win a prize.

The competition organised by village leaders in Bibipur, Haryana attracted nearly 800 entries from all over the country.

Winners were declared on Friday and received a trophy, a certificate and prize of 2,100 rupees ($32; £25).

Haryana has one of India's lowest gender ratios, with 877 women for every 1,000 men. This, say experts, is the result of illegal sex-selective abortions, female infanticide, parental neglect and discrimination against girl children.

Here we show some of the selfies as well as images taken by photographer Mansi Thapliyal, who travelled to talk to some of those who participated in the contest.

Amit and his wife Rita with their daughter Vanshika from Haryana took one of the winning selfies. "My daughter is five years old," said Amit. "I want to give her the best education".

This selfie of Aamar Dagar with his daughter Palak in Delhi was also a winner of the contest

A selfie submitted by Bhup Singh with his daughters, Taniya and Sara, from Haryana

Bibipur village chief Sunil Jaglan with his daughter, Nandini. Bibipur has a rare female-led caste council (khap panchayat), which has passed a resolution saying female foeticide should be treated as murder

Mr Jaglan says he received nearly 800 selfies on WhatsApp from all over the country. "Clicking selfies is the latest craze, so we hit upon this idea to encourage parents to take pictures with their daughter," he says.

Dharmendra (right) had submitted a picture with his five-month-old daughter. "This is a way to express our love towards a girl child. Here they are equal to the boys," he says.

Eleven-year-old Tanu, who wants to be a policewoman, submitted a picture with her grandmother, Sheela, for the contest

One of the selfies submitted for the contest

These cousins - Dipanshu, Nancy, Khushi and Prerna - had posed with their policeman uncle in their selfie

Bibipur is one of the more female-friendly villages in Haryana - a board at its entrance declares it a "women's village"