BALASORE: The district administration on Sunday came to the rescue of the poor tribal couple who had allegedly sold their five-day-old baby son on Friday.
Bharata Singh and Saraswati Singh, who were staying near the Soro railway godown, had reportedly sold their third child to a defence employee of Khaira area for
` 8,000.
Denying it as a deal, the administration said the money was given as a token of gratitude.
District Collector Akhila Bihari Ota said the baby has been taken back from the person and Saraswati along with her two other
children - a six-year-old daughter and two-year-old - has been accommodated at Bapuji Seva Sadan, a government-run orphanage in
Nilagiri.
“The adoption was not legal. As the baby is breast-fed, we have kept him along with his mother in the orphanage for proper care. The administration will bear the cost of their maintenance,” he said.
Bharata, an alcoholic, has also been given shelter in a rehabilitation centre at Amara in Odangi.