A poor daily wager couple sold off their two minor daughters for `20, 000 in Sambalpur town, sparking sharp reaction in public.Though they did it in a hush-hush way to a person in MP, it is their other children who made the deal public and sought the help of the police for bringing back the minors.Meanwhile, two police officers rushed to MP to trace the girls and bring them back. Police also have detained the parents of the girls residing in Modipara, a posh area of the city and lady broker of the same locality Durgesini Taria.
As per information, Manabhola Nayak, a painter by profession and his wife Pravasini’s financial condition is very poor. They have four daughters and two sons. Further, Manabhola and his wife are alcohol-addicts. For buying wine, they need money on regular basis. Knowing that they won’t be able to marry off their daughters, the couple, which was in dire need of money, sold them to a MP-based family in Patharia through a lady broker for `20,000.
But the younger brother and elder sister of the girls couldn’t tolerate it. They told their other relations after which the clandestine deal was made public.“My sisters were totally unwilling to go to MP. They cried to their heart to persuade our parents not to sell them off. But finally my parents sent them to MP,” said younger brother of the victims Sanatan.“I went to MP with my parents and two sisters. But I saw no marriage there,” Sanatan added. The elder sister of the girls also told police and media the same story. “The girls are 12 and 14 years of age respectively. Hence, we demand their home coming through police and social activists of the town,” the elder sister demanded.
“This is not new in our family. My parents also tried to sell me when I was young. But due to my virulent protest, they were not successful. Some people here are working as brokers in such work,” she revealed. But the parents of the girls denied that they sold off their daughters. “The girls are major and both are above 18 years. We have not sold them but married them off in MP,” Manabhola claimed.Additional SP of Sambalpur Sushil Kumar Panigrahi said two police officers and the father of the girls have gone to MP. After they return everything will be clear, he stated.