By Firstdespatch Desk Nov 25, 2023
Agartala, Nov 25 (FD) Rescue of the one and half day old sold girl child following order by the Chief Minister Prof. Dr Manik Saha from Khowai has unearthed the truth that children are sold in the hills of the state due to poverty.
And there is no denying of the fact the children are being sold by the tribals due to poverty in all regimes, who were at the helm of affairs for decades.
A poverty stricken tribal man, who sold his one and half days old girl child at a cost of Rs. 30,000 in Tripura’s Khowai district three days ago has been rescued by police and volunteers of an NGO, Child line, officials said today.
Tripura Chief Minister, Prof. Dr Manik Saha had ordered an urgent inquiry on Thursday into a press report that a poor tribal father of Bangshipara, a remote tribal hamlet at Mungiakami block had sold his thirty six hour old daughter to an unknown person at a price of Rs 30 thousand on Wednesday.
Chief Minister, who is also the home minister of the state, ordered the District Magistrate, Chandni Chandran to inquire into the matter immediately and furnish a report so that corrective actions can be taken.
Ms Chandran swung into action immediately and formed a team with police and volunteers of the Child line, an NGO working for child labour, child trafficking, child abuse, child marriage, homeless child etc, which rescued the child from a neighbouring village on Friday.
After the child was missing from house, her mother, Usha Rani Debbarma had moved from door to door to search out her daughter and the news spread like wild fire in the locality, an official said.
Father of the child, Sukhen Debbarma told reporters today that he decided to sell her daughter due to abject poverty.
“I am an unfortunate father, who is not able to bring up own child, unable to feed her and provide garments. Even I have no hose to stay. I have no job”, he told reporters at Teliamura hospital, where the rescued child is being treated.
District Magistrate said, “Now the baby is well and being given some treatment at the hospital. If the parents want that their child should be adopted by anybody then we would give them all legal assistance”. FD JK