Bhadrak: After an elderly woman in Odisha’s Bhadrak district accused her son and daughter in-law of selling their one-month-old daughter, police launched a swift operation and rescued the infant from Cuttack.
Based on the complaint lodged by the baby’s grandmother, a team of Bhadrak’s Bhandaripokhari police station conducted a raid and successfully rescued the infant girl from the Rajabagicha area of Cuttack.
Sources said the rescued child has been admitted to the Bhadrak District Headquarters Hospital (DHH), where she is currently undergoing medical treatment. The child will be produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and a decisi
on will be taken regarding her custody.
As per police sources, the child was allegedly sold by her parents to repay mounting debts. Her father, a resident of Bayabanapur village in Bhandaripokhari, was unemployed and had borrowed huge money from multiple sources. Unable to repay the loans and facing pressure from villagers who had lent him money, the couple allegedly took the extreme step of selling their for Rs 35,000 to a close relative, identified as the child’s paternal aunt who stays in Cuttack.
The case came to light after the infant’s grandmother lodged a complaint with Bhandaripokhari police. As per her statement, on Monday morning, the child’s parents left home claiming they were taking the baby for medical treatment. However, when they returned home in the evening, the child was missing. When the grandmother questioned them about the baby’s whereabouts, the parents allegedly abused and threatened her with physical harm.
During interrogation by police, the child’s parents confessed to have sold the her to repay their debts.