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Orissa woman sells baby for Rs 700
A poverty-struck woman in Orissa sold her few months old son to a childless couple for a mere Rs 700.
A poverty-struck woman in Orissa sold her few months old son to a childless couple for a mere Rs.700, local media reports said Monday.
Mita Naik, a resident of Birabarapur Patna slum in Keonjahr town, 235 km from here, was struggling to make ends meet after her husband deserted her when she was pregnant, Oriya newspaper Dharitri reported.
The woman, who earned her livelihood working as a daily wager and sometimes by selling firewood to local households, gave birth to her third child in October last year.
Finding it difficult to maintain herself and the child, she sold her son to a childless Muslim couple from the same town for just Rs.700 on Nov 14, the paper said.
Mita's husband Sudam had left her along with two other children - two-year-old daughter Purnima and one-year-old son Babi. Sudam had reportedly sold Babi to a man from the same town for Rs.1,000.
A senior district administrative official told IANS that they were examining the matter. However, he said it seemed to be a case of adoption.
There have been several reports in the past of poor people committing suicide or selling their children in Orissa, where natural calamities like droughts and floods have devastated the economy.
