KENDRAPARA : Poverty forced a tribal woman of Bhamaradiapatana village in Kendrapara district to sell her newborn to a couple for Rs 2,000. The incident took place on Monday and baby boy was born on Sunday evening.
The woman, Gita Murmu (30), sold the baby to Manoj Sahoo and his wife, Mamta of the same village. Gita, who already has a 12-year-old girl and 10-year-old son, was deserted by her husband, Haldhar Murmu six months back.
The child sale came to light after some villagers saw the newborn in Mamta’s custody. After inquiring, they came to know that Gita had sold her baby for `2,000 to Mamta as the latter only had a 10-year-old daughter and no son. Subsequently, the villagers informed the Child Welfare Committee members, who brought the baby back and handed him over to Gita.
However, as Mamta is not ready to part with the baby completely, the CWC members are counselling her. “Mamta and Manoj had persuaded Gita to sell her baby as they had no son.
The deal was finalised at `2,000 and Mamta also allowed Gita to stay in her home to look after the infant,” said chairman of district unit of Child Welfare Committee, Sishir Kumar Routray. Contacted, Collector Muralidhar Mallick said the district administration has directed CWC to submit a detailed report on the incident.