Police on Sunday arrested four persons, including an Anganwadi Worker, on the charges of their involvement in the recent incident of sale of a baby girl in Jajpur district.
Poverty-stricken Natabar Behera of village Sanarayapada village under the Dharmasala police station in the district sold his two-day-old girl to a childless one Kailash Barik and his wife Sasmita, a paralysis patient, of Mahakalpada village in Kendrapada district for Rs 12,000 on Saturday.
The accused were identified as the Barik couple and Anganwadi Worker Pravasini Das and her brother Deepak Das of Bharatpur under the Balichandrapur police station in Jajpur district. The baby was rescued from the possession of the Barik couple.
Natabar had sold his newborn girl through the mediation of the Anganwadi Worker and her brother. Police recovered Rs 12,000 from their possession.
Police handed over the baby to the District Child Welfare Committee for her proper care.
The accused were booked under Section 370 (buying or disposing of any person as a slave) and Section 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (sale and procurement of children for any purpose), said Dharmasala PS IIC Rakesh Tripathy.
