History repeats. Once again, a poverty-struck woman has sold her two-day old male baby to another woman for just Rs2,000 in Kendrapada district. Shockingly, the deal for the baby sale was struck when the baby was in the womb.
The incident occurred at Kajala tribal village under Kendrapada Township. Gita Murmu, the destitute tribal woman, gave birth to a baby boy on Saturday at her ramshackle thatched house.
But as her husband had deserted her to fend for herself by leaving two children, including a six- year- old daughter and 10- year-old son, already struggling for survival, the woman had no option but to go for the sell-off of her third child.
“I handed over my two- day-old son to Mamata Sahu, a resident of Bhramardia Patana, due to abject poverty. I cannot feed my two children and, now the birth of another child added to my plight. I decided to sell my child. Sahu told me to hand over my baby to her as she wanted a boy. So I decided to sell the baby to Sahu, who assured me to give Rs2, 000,” said Gita Murmu.
“Though I am struggling to collect my bread and also for my two children, but I have been deprived of NFSA ration card. Nor did the district administration enrol my name in social security schemes,” lamented Murmu.
“As I do not have a son and I saw Gita was struggling to feed her duo children ,so when she was conceived I gave her proposal to hand over the child to me after she would deliver child. As a result, I also spent Rs600 for the medical treatment of Gita and her infant. I took the mother and her child to my house. As Gita needs some money, so I told to provide her Rs2, 000,” said Mamata Sahu, the child buyer.
“Gita stayed at my house in order to provide breast feeding to her new born son. Gita would stay with her child at my house for about a month,” Sahu added.
Meanwhile, District Child Protection Officer Bijay Ketan Sahu brought the matter before the Child Welfare Committee to conduct a joint inquiry. A team led by Chairperson of Child welfare Committee Sisir Kumar Routray rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry.
Routray stated that as per the preliminary inquiry, it was known that the newborn and the mother were staying at Mamata Sahu’s house at Bhramaradiapatana. Due to poverty, the mother sold her son, but she has not received money.
Meanwhile, Sahu, who is ignorant about the Juvenile Justice Act, requested the Child Welfare Committee to take back the child.
“We are going to rescue the child and would produce him before the Juvenile Justice Board and later, necessary steps would be taken by the CWC for the rehabilitation of the child and the mother. As the child was born low weight, so the child would be admitted at the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre at the District Headquarters Hospital in Kendrapada,” said District Child Protection Officer Sahu.
“We have failed to rescue the child following the mother was panicked. So on Tuesday morning, the child would be rescued. It is strange to know that the woman was not enrolled in Mamata Yojana, nor did she get any aid. An inquiry will be conducted in this regard,” said the CWC Chairperson.
According to District Social Welfare Officer Puspanjali Mohapatra, necessary steps would be taken to rehabilitate the mother and the child in a short stay home. Besides, the district administration would take care of education of the duo children of the destitute woman.