Patna: A poor woman from Jharkhand state allegedly sold her newborn baby to a neighbour after failing to pay medical bills.

The hapless woman, identified as Sharada Devi, a resident of Akdahi village under Palamu district in Jharkhand, had been living in utter penury after she was abandoned by her husband five months ago.

Trouble grew when she suddenly fell sick but had no money to pay doctors’ fees or buy medicines for her treatment. Left without alternatives, she eventually sold her baby to a childless couple, Mantu Agarwal and Rinki Devi.

The couple took her to a local doctor, got her treated and paid her medical expenses. According to the woman, the expenses incurred on her treatment totalled around Rs6,000 (Dh338).

“The woman was really in trouble. She was sick but had no money to meet the medical expenses. So, local villagers suggested her to sell her baby to a couple who had no children to solve this problem, saying she already had four children. She got convinced by the idea and handed her five-month-old baby girl to the couple,” the local village head, Vishwanath Ram, told media on Thursday.

Authorities have initiated action against the couple who tried to exploit the condition of the hapless women.

“The entire process [adoption of the baby] should have been done under the ambit of law. The couple should not have take advantage of poverty of the hapless woman. We are conducting inquiry into the matter,” a government official said.

Such incidents are quite common in mineral-rich Jharkhand, where the level of poverty reported quite alarming. As per a report, the eastern Indian state accounts for some 40 per cent of the mineral resources in India but 39.10 per cent of the population is below the poverty line and 19.6 per cent of the children under five years old are malnourished.

Last year, a mother of five allegedly sold her newborn daughter for Rs7,000 to a childless woman owing to poverty at a local government hospital in Dhanbad. Following intervention by the Child Welfare Committee, the infant was finally reunited with her mother.

Similar incident again took place in 2015 when another poor woman sold her eight-month-old daughter for Rs14,000 in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand.