A ten-day-old boy, who was allegedly sold by his drug-addict father for Rs 10,000 in Odisha, was rescued from a woman by members of Childline with the help of police.
The woman who bought the infant on June 14 has been arrested on charges of illegal adoption and buying the child.
In her defence she told, “They were about to abandon the baby. Since I have no son, I bought the baby for Rs 10,000.”
“The father of the baby is a drug addct. Due to financial constraints, the newborns father forced his wife to dump the baby in a dustbin. But, the mother handed over the child to a woman,” Childline director Benudhar Senapati told the reporters.
“Both the buyer and seller of a baby are guilty under provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act,” she added.
Arun Kumar Swain, inspector in-charge of the Kharvel Nagar police station, said the police rescued the baby on a tip off from the NGO.
“The nomadic couple who sold their child are rag pickers. The woman, Sumedin Bibi, who bought the baby is also into ragpicking and knew about the birth. As she was childless, she asked the couple to give her the child. The child’s father asked for ₹10,000 which she paid at her home at Malisahi,” said inspector Swain.
