Odisha Child ‘Gifting’ Row: Parents Hand Over Baby To Govt To Leave As Migrant Workers Again

Bhubaneswar: The widely discussed child ‘gifting’ incident in Odisha’s Balangir district has taken a new turn. The couple, who had earlier admitted to have ‘gifted’ their newborn due to financial constraints, reportedly handed over the child to the state government.

As per information, the couple from San Guduchibhata village under Khaprakhol block in the district handed over the child to the officials at the Balangir Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on Friday. They stated they are planning to work as migrant workers again in other states.

After handing over the child to the CWC, child’s mother once again refuted allegations of child sale and clarified that they had only gifted the newborn for her better future and not for financial returns. She added they would go to Andhra Pradesh to work again as migrant workers again.

She further stated though they have two acres of land, the returns are not suffice to raise a five-member family. So the couple works in brick kilns in other states for six months a year and the rest six months they stay back at village and do cultivation.

Earlier, the Odisha government had ordered a probe into the child ‘gifting’ row where the couple expressed their financial incapacity to take care of their newborn. Though the couple claimed they had gifted their newborn female child due to their incapacity to raise her, there were allegations that they had sold the baby.

Worth mentioning that San Guduchibhata is a backward village Several families of the village wok as migrant workers in brick kilns of other states to eke out a living.

After the incident hit headlines, Deputy Chief Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, who is the local MLA had visited the village and directed the Bolangir district administration to conduct a thorough investigation and submit a detailed report.

The police had arrested three persons Mamata Bhoi (ANM), Raj Kumar Mittal and Alok Agrawal. The child was rescued from a private hospital in Raipur in connection with the incident.