VILLUPURAM: A mother of three children on Wednesday requested the Collector to rescue her three-month-old child who was sold by her relatives for Rs 75,000.
In her petition, Jayalatchumi of Sakkarapuram near Gingee said she and her husband Latchumanan, a daily wage labourer, have three children - Shruthika (3), Nivas (2) and Rithish (3 months).
Since her husband was an alcoholic, he did not contribute to the family and spent most of his income on buying liquor. Pointing out that raising a third child would be difficult under these circumstances, Jayalatchumi’s relatives Nirmala and Kamala told her that Vengatesh of Gudiyattam was interested in getting a child and urged her to sell Rithish to him, but she refused.
However, a few days later, they told Jayalatchumi that they had ‘fixed’ Rs 75,000 as the price for the child and forcefully took her to Gudiyattam.
There, Vengatesh forced her to sign some papers and took the child with him after giving her Rs 75,000 cash. He also threatened her with serious consequences if she created any problem, pointing out that she had “signed the papers”.
Later, Jayalatchumi returned to her village. However, as she could not stand being separated from her child, she urged Latchumanan to return the money and bring back the child. But he did not take any interest in the matter and continued to roam the streets after consuming liquor.
Last week, she contacted Childline India-Child Welfare Committee, but there was allegedly no response from them. Following this, she requested the Collector to take action on the issue and rescue the child from Vengatesh and hand him back to her. She also requested that severe action be taken against all persons involved in the issue.