Cuttack: In a shocking incident, as many as 10 children from the Nilakantheswar slum under Chauliaganj police limits of Cuttack are reported to have been sold by their parents. Residents of the area allege that around 10 children have been sold and sent to neighboring Andhra Pradesh in the past two years.
Soon after the matter surfaced, there was palpable tension in the slum and police had to intervene to restore normalcy. According to sources, Police are interrogating the concerned persons in the matter.
"The children are being sent to Andhra Pradesh through a broker who visits here," said a local activist.
Notably, the parents of the sold children have admitted to having received money for selling their children.
"We have sent our child for work in Andhra Pradesh. However, after my grandmother's death, I approached the people who employed my child for money and they gave me Rs 20,000," said the mother of a child.
Meanwhile, DCP Sanjiv Arora directed the city Mahila police station to register a case based on the complaints filed by the district child welfare committee (CWC), a city police officer said.
Besides the CWC, the district child protection officer Pragati Mohanty also visited the slum and enquired about the incident.
"While there are complaints that some minor children have been sent to Andhra Pradesh by a broker as domestic helps with assurance of monthly remuneration, some others have been trafficked without any known purpose in past 10 months," CWC member Bikash Mohapatra said.