Bhubaneswar: Badagada police on Wednesday rescued a four-year-old girl, who was allegedly sold by her parents for Rs 40,000.
Seven persons, including the two couples, have been arrested on child trafficking charges.
Speaking to the media, the IIC of Badagada police station Trupti Ranjan Nayak said that they had received a complaint this morning from one Sarthak Mohanty, who alleged that a Bihar couple staying as a tenant in his house had sold their four-year-old daughter.
Following interrogation, police got to know that the girl was sold to a couple in Pipili area. “We then went to Pipili and rescued the child. The couple was also brought to the police station for questioning,” the IIC added.
He added that the couple from Bihar’s Banka district have confessed to selling their child for Rs 40,000. “The Pipili couple, who do not have any children, also confessed to purchasing the child,” he said.
Police also detained four other women who acted as mediators in the alleged child sale. The mediators along with the couple were also caught on camera while making the deal.
A police source further said that the woman is the stepmother and investigation is on to ascertain whether the couple deliberately sold their child by pretending to be poor.
The four-year-old girl will be handed over to Child Welfare Committee, the source added.
Earlier this month, a 17-day-old baby girl, who was allegedly sold by her impoverished parents to a couple in Andhra Pradesh, was brought back on November 20 after the intervention of the Rayagada administration. Similarly, Balangir police traced a newborn girl, allegedly sold by her mother of Sangurjibhata village after her birth, to a private hospital in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. She had given birth to the child two weeks ago at Sunamudi health centre.
