Odisha shocker: Poverty-stricken father sells newborn for Rs 2.5 lakh; held

In a heart-wrenching incident, a father sold his five-day-old boy as he could not bear the burden of another child. Taking suo moto action, the Odisha Police apprehended the man and the middleman.

Bolangir (Odisha): Fed up with poverty, a man allegedly sold his five-day born boy for Rs 2.5 lakh in Jhankarapada village under the Titlagarh block in Odisha's Bolangir district. The Titilagarh Police on Saturday said that they have arrested the accused (the father of newborn) Santosh Palei and middleman Sheikh Ramadan in connection with the case.

According to officials attached to the Titilagarh police station, Santosh and his wife Pushpa were poverty-stricken and they were unable to take the burden of another child. "So they decided to sell the infant. Santosh with help of his neighbour Sheikh Ramadan, who acted as a middleman, sold his 5-day-old baby to one Raja, who hails from Kalahandi for Rs 2.5 lakh," the officials added.

Police said that they registered a suo motu case against Santosh and Sheikh and apprehended the duo. Meanwhile, Zareena Begam, the wife of Sheikh Ramadam, revealed that one Raja from the Bhabanipatna area contacted her husband to buy a newborn baby.

According to Begam, Sheikh Ramadan contacted Santosh Palei and persuaded him to sell his new-born. "Santosh had no objection in selling the baby. He received 2.5 lakhs from Raja," claimed Begam. She further alleged that her husband was brutally assaulted inside the police station.

Earlier on July 11, in a shocking incident, a 30-year-old man allegedly attacked his 26-day-old child with a sharp object leaving the infant critically wounded after he suspected his wife of adultery in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district.