Ten-year-old 'sold off by father' rescued in Odisha  

Police on Friday rescued a 10-year-old boy, who was allegedly sold off by his father at Sasanpurushottampur village under Badchana block of Jajpur district. 

According to a source, three to four days ago, Ghana Sinku of Sasanpurushottampur village along with his son went to Dharmashala market. However, he returned alone. When family members enquired about the child’s whereabouts, he said he had sold off his son.   

In no time, the news spread through word of mouth. Local people passed the information to the district child protection unit. After getting the information, the officials sought the help of Badchana Police. 

Subsequently, the Badchana IIC passed the information to the outpost at Dhanmandal. Taking the piece of information seriously, the Dhanmandal outpost OIC launched an investigation and rescued the child from a house in a village under Jenapur Police limits. 

Later, the police handed the child over to his family members, but only after they gave a written statement to the police that he (Ghana Sinku) would refrain from such attempts. 

When contacted, district child protection officer Niranjana Kar said the rescued child would be produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). 

“After getting information, we contacted the Badchana IIC who instructed the OIC of Dhanmandal outpost. The OIC rescued the child. Later, the child was handed over to his parents. Though it was alleged that the child was sold away, the parents refuted the claims in writing. However, we have sent our staff to find out the veracity of the allegation,” said Kar.

(Reported by Gulam Goss, OTV)