Odisha family sells newborn girl for Rs 20,000 ‘due to poverty’

In a disturbing case from Odisha, poverty allegedly forced a couple to sell their newborn baby girl for Rs 20,000 in Bolangir district, sources said on Sunday. The incident has raised serious concerns about child trafficking and extreme poverty in rural belts of the State.

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According to sources, fresh allegation of child trafficking has emerged from Titilagarh block in Odisha’s Bolangir. A couple from Bagder village of Bhalegaon panchayat allegedly sold their newborn daughter for Rs 20,000 due to severe financial distress.

The newborn’s father Nila Rana reportedly handed over the child to another person from Paikamal locality after his wife Kanak gave birth to the baby girl on July 1. It is said that the family was unable to bear the costs of raising a second daughter amid extreme poverty and opted to sell the infant.

This incident is not an isolated one — previous such cases from this region indicate recurring incidents of child sales, pointing to systemic socio-economic issues in the area.

Local residents and child rights activists have demanded immediate probe and intervention from the authorities concerned.

“We are poor people and used to eke out our living by working as migrant workers. When I returned home after six months, our sarpanch told me that my ration rice was not available. We are living in penury; hence, sold the second child,” Nila Rana stated to OTV.

“I had given birth to a girl child in a hospital at Pipalpadar. My husband subsequently sold the baby to someone whom I don’t know. No ‘situation’ had arisen but he sold. He had not taken my views before selling the child,” Kanak told when contacted.

Reported By: Abinash Nanda