The low ratio of females to males in India's population, observed since the first Indian census in 1881, raises a series of questions: (1) Are the data on the low sex ratio accurate? In other words, what is the validity of the census data which constitute the observation of fewer females than males in India? (2) How, or through what mechanisms, is the sex ratio produced? Is the sex ratio at birth, which customarily averages 105 males per 100 females, inexplicably different in India in comparison to other regions? Or is mortality the culprit? (3) Why does the low sex ratio arise? What are the various social, political, economic and environmental forces which operate either individually or in concert to produce biological damage? (4) And finally, assuming that the deteriorating sex ratio is undesirable from a public welfare perspective, what can be done about the problems? An attempt is made in this paper to offer some insights on these issues on the basis of evidence gathered in Bangladesh.