Woman "Gifts" Newborn Daughter Over Poverty, Odisha Government Orders Probe

As the Odisha government began an inquiry into the incidents of the alleged sale of two children due to poverty in Rayagada and Bolangir districts, one of them was rescued from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, officials said on Wednesday.

The nine-day-old girl who was allegedly sold to a childless couple in Andhra Pradesh has been rescued and kept at a centre at Rayagada, District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) Bichitra Sethi said.

"The child will be kept at the centre till it is decided whether to hand her over to her biological parents who had given her away due to poverty,” Sethi said, adding that the Andhra Pradesh couple have expressed interest in legally adopting the child.

The state government earlier on Tuesday had received two complaints of child sales due to poverty, one from Rayagada and another from Bolangir districts.

The Rayagada district incident involves a poor couple allegedly selling their nine-day-old daughter for Rs 20,000 to the couple in Andhra Pradesh.

Kumud Ganta (22) and her husband Rahul Dhanbeda (25) are residents of Nuapada Colony under Chandili police limits in Rayagada. They have a three-year-old daughter and a newborn, an official said.

Rahul works as a helper in a truck with a monthly income of Rs 1,500. According to reports, their newborn child was sold to the couple in Parvatipuram Manyam district of Andhra Pradesh on November 11, sources said.

The incident came to light when local Anganwadi and ASHA workers could not find the infant at Kumud's home and reported the matter to Child Line authorities, the official said.

Nirakar Padhi, a member of the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), said that the initial probe revealed that the child was given to the Andhra couple through a stamped paper agreement.

"Though the original parents denied receiving any money, our inquiry revealed a transaction of Rs 20,000," she said.

"It is against the law to transfer custody of a child through a stamped paper agreement. Appropriate legal action will be taken," District Child Protection Officer Bichitra Sethi said.

A similar case was reported from Khaprakhol block in Bolangir district, where a couple allegedly "gifted their newborn daughter to unidentified persons" because they were unable to afford to raise her due to severe poverty.

Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo, who is from Bolangir, ordered a probe into the alleged sale of the newborn in Sangurjibhata village.

Mr Singh Deo met the child's mother Arunabati Nag on Tuesday.

She claimed that she had "gifted" her newborn to unknown people because she could not care for six children.

"During our interaction, the mother said that she was unable to raise six children. Thus the family decided to gift the youngest one," Singh Deo said.

The deputy chief minister added, "While a child can be given for adoption, there is a formal procedure that was not followed in this case. Legal action will be taken against those responsible." When contacted, a senior official at the Women and Child Development Department here told PTI, "We have asked the district authorities of both the districts to inquire into the matter and take immediate measures to bring back the children given to other couples." 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)