Odisha woman sells baby to meet liquor expenses!

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Puri, Oct 20: 

In a bizarre incident, a woman has allegedly sold off her three-month-old son in Odisha’s pilgrim town of Puri to meet her liquor expenses.

The woman is accused of selling her infant to a person for Rs 3,000 to quench her thirst for alcoholic beverages, sources said.

According to sources, the woman identified as Pinky Singh had sold off her three-month-old son to one Ramesh Behera from Cuttack, near Puri Railway station yesterday.

Some onlookers found Pinky crying in the railway station and informed the officials of Childline. Puri Childline chief Debasis Rath along with his colleague reached the spot and enquired about the matter. Following this, a case was filed at the Kumbharpada police station and the child was rescued.

The police have taken the child from the couple and handed over the minor to Child Welfare Committee (CWC). Besides, the mother of the child has been rescued from the Puri railway station and sent to a women shelter.

On the other hand, Ramesh Behera, who had allegedly bought the child, has been detained by the police for further questioning.

“The mother had thrown the child into the garbage in the station. The sweepers, who are known to me, spotted the child and asked me whether I would like to keep the child. As I already have two grown up sons so I asked my brother if he would be interested to rescue the child and he agreed,” said Ramesh’s sister, refuting child buying accusation.

Meanwhile, the child has been admitted to district headquarters hospital for treatment as he is unwell.

“We are investigating the case. We have handed over the child to CWC and the child had been hospitalised as he was unwell,” said an officer of Kumbharpada police station here.