Patna: Police were looking for a Nepalese couple after a 35-year-old mother in Bihar allegedly sold off her four-month-old child to them for a mere 100 Nepalese rupees (Dh4.11), apparently struck by extreme poverty.
The shocking incident took place at the Forbesganj railway station in eastern Bihar’s Araia district which shares an open border with Nepal, on Thursday but was reported in the media only on Sunday.
Policed said they were told Shannu Khatoon had “sold” her four-month-old baby boy Shamim, one of twins, to a Nepalese couple to support her family of five which included her physically challenged husband Mohammad Shaheed, eight-year-old daughter Shabina and the twins, one of which she has sold.
“We all had been literally starving for want of any means to run the family as my husband is completely disabled and hence I was forced to take to this extreme step. I pray my child is safe there,” a dejected-looking Shannu told the media. Her other twin, Rustam is with her.
Media reports said Shannu along with her entire family had left her native village Madanpur about a week ago looking for a livelihood and had finally taken shelter at the Forbesganj railway station.
Unable to get any kind of financial help, the family eventually took to begging at the railway station during the course of which Shannu came across the Nepalese couple and parted with her baby for a petty amount to ensure her family survives for another day.
“Yes, I have the information that a poor woman has sold one of her twins to a Nepalese couple for a petty amount. I have asked the railway personnel to get in touch with the Nepal police and recover the baby as soon as possible,” district superintendent of police, Araria, Shivdeep Wamanrao Lande told the media on Sunday.
The level of poverty is quite alarming in Bihar and according to a recent study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, around 70 per cent of rural household in Bihar are routinely forced to skip meals due to high level of poverty.
The study was conducted under the guidance of Jean Dreze, a development economist who conceptualised and drafted the first version of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
