ROURKELA: The Sundargarh administration on Thursday dismissed the allegation of child sale at Shaktinagar here.
A vernacular daily has on Wednesday reported that Smrutirekha Pradhan (33) of Champatoli in Shaktinagar had sold one of her twin babies.
Dismissing the report, Sundargarh District Child Protection Officer (DCPO), Sribanta Jena said the woman has categorically denied selling her baby. Investigation revealed that Smrutirekha had prematurely given birth to twins at a private nursing home on September 10. Later, the babies were admitted to Astha Hospital for better treatment. Her husband is a habitual drunkard and the woman being physically and financially weak found it difficult to take care of the babies, he added.
The DCPO said her brother and sister-in-law, who are staying at Bhubaneswar, had then taken temporary custody of the girl child while another woman Seema Singh of Koelnagar was taking care of the male baby. Smrutirekha was regularly breastfeeding the baby boy.
Jena said Seema Singh on Thursday returned the male baby to Smrutirekha while her brother was also on way to Rourkela to return the girl child.
The woman also has a 12-year-old girl and expressed willingness to surrender the female baby to Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The district administration has decided to extend financial help of `2,000 to the woman.