India: Driven by extreme poverty due to COVID-19, a migrant labourer sold his 15-day-old daughter for Rs45,000 (Dh2,212)

Dubai: Driven by extreme poverty and lack of work during the COVID-19 crisis, a migrant labourer in Assam sold his 15-day-old daughter for an amount of Rs45,000 (Dh2,212). Twitter users in India shared the “shocking” story on Saturday, and are thankful that the police rescued the baby.

On Friday, police officials said that the father, identified as Dipak Brahma, was arrested along with two other women for human trafficking. Reportedly, Brahma had recently returned from Gujarat, where he worked as a labourer. He was jobless, and finding it hard to support his family.

Reportedly, after his return back to his village, the family lived a hand-to-mouth existence, according to neighbours.

According to a report by an Indian news agency, Digambar Narzary, chairman of the Nedan Foundation, an NGO working against human trafficking, said: "During these tough times, Brahma's wife gave birth to the girl, their second daughter. Their elder daughter is a year old. Brahma tried to find a job during the pandemic but it was hard to come by. With almost all doors to earn a living closed, Brahma decided to sell the newborn. The man sold his daughter to two women for just Rs45,000, but kept his wife in the dark."

As soon as the child’s mother came to know, she along with the rest of the villagers, reportedly, registered a complaint against him when they came to know of the incident. On receiving the complaint, police swung into action, and rescued the baby from the two sisters. We also arrested the father," the police stated.

During police interrogation, the two women claimed that they had bought the baby for a childless couple related to them.