Parents sell toddler for Rs 6,000 in Orissa

Unable to bear the burden of bringing up three children, a couple allegedly sold their newborn baby girl for Rs 6,000 to unidentified people under the garb of adoption.

According to reports, Lata Rana, 28, wife of Baikuntha Rana, 35, of Ranapur village in Jajpur district, on Sunday delivered her fourth child at Binjharpur Community Health Centre (CHC).

The couple, who already had two daughters and one son, was expecting a second male child. They, however, decided to sell the child after finding out that their newborn is a girl, reports said.

“We are very poor people. We have two daughters a son. Since we find it very hard to feed three children, we decided to hand over the newborn in adoption to a well-wisher to raise her well. The allegation of selling our child is untrue,” Baikunta told reporters on Wednesday when asked about incident.

As the news about the alleged sale of the child spread, officials of the state child welfare committee (SCWC) on Wednesday visited Binjharpur to make an on-the-spot inquiry.

They questioned the couple on the circumstances under which they sold the child.

Abanti Samal, the accredited social health activist (ASHA) who had got Lata admitted to the CHC, said the couple appeared unhappy after the girl child was born.

“The couple appeared unhappy after the girl child was born. But, they did not give any hints that they were planning to sell or give the child up for adoption. I came to know from the couple’s relatives that they handed over the child to some unidentified persons while returning home from the CHC,” Ms Samal said.

Inspector Asit Ranjan Mohanty of the Binjharpur police station said that the coupled denied the charge that they sold their baby and said that they had given the baby up for adoption to a childless couple.