A Tripura couple sold their girl child as they were unable to bear her expenses. (Representational Pic)
In what highlights the sorry state of affairs in the backward areas of Tripura, a tribal couple in remote Dhalai district sold their girl child as they were unable to bear the expenses of the infant.
The family belongs to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category.
A report published in a local paper said the child was sold for Rs 650.
Expressing grave concern over the incident, Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Sudip Roy Barman said that the tribal sections are living mainly in the interior areas and are dying due to lack of food, and added that these incidents are hardly flashed by the media as the government cover them up.
Mr Barman said that there was an incident in Gandacherra area day before yesterday where a child was sold, adding a child was sold by the parents earlier in Kamalpur area in the same district.
He said that the poverty ridden couple had sold the girl child to earn their livelihood.
"A child was sold by the parents to earn their livelihood and this is a sorry state of affairs. Though the parents have been arrested, the kid hasn't yet been recovered. The people are dying because of poverty. This government is in such a callous mood that they are least bothered...rather they are busy trying to suppress these facts and figures," Mr Barman said.
According to an official report on September 18 last, a two-year old girl child was handed-over by her parents Harita Tripura (mother) and Charan Tripura (step father) to one Rita Chakma.
This incident comes just days after another tribal couple from Gandachera subdivision of Dhalai district had sold their child.
Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) Gandachera Bhaskar Das Gupta said, "The child was handed-over with mutual consent and on humanitarian ground for education purpose."
The SDM had met the tribal couple along with Jhutan Jamatia, the officer-in-charge of local police station, and inquired about the incident.
He added that the child was traced and recovered from Abhoynagar area of Agartala, around 180 km from the village and handed over to her parents.
It may be recalled that a similar incident was reported from Khowai district's Munda Basti ADC (Autonomous District Council) village in the month of July last year where a tribal couple said that they were compelled to sell their newly-born child for Rs 4,500 as they were unable to bear the cost of the kid.