Lucknow, Jan 2: When we were celebrating New Year on Monday, a woman in Uttar Pradesh was caught in a dilemma--whether to fulfill her duty as a mother or be a good wife--because choosing one means abandoning the other for the woman.
As a wife, the woman from Mirganj town in Bareilly district of the state has to immediately arrange funds for the treatment of her ailing husband and as a mother, the poor woman has no other option but to sell her 15-day-old infant (the gender of the child is not known) to take care of the medical bill.
The woman decided to sell her baby for Rs 45,000 so that her husband could be saved.
"#UttarPradesh: Woman sold her 15-day-old baby for Rs 45,000 for treatment of her ailing husband in #Bareilly's #Mirganj, says didn't have adequate funds," tweeted ANI.
#UttarPradesh: Woman sold her 15-day-old baby for Rs 45000 for treatment of her ailing husband in #Bareilly's #Mirganj, says "didn't have adequate funds" pic.twitter.com/HtJMZOtlpz
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 2, 2018
"It was not an easy decision for the family to make, but we need money to treat my husband. So, I took the drastic step. We are poor people and I was forced to choose between my husband and child.
"The only way to save my husband is to let my child go," the sobbing woman said. In India, reports of poor people selling their children are not unheard of.
In December last year, a father from Tripura was "forced" to sell his eight-month-old daughter for Rs 200. The man, a resident of Teliamura's Maharanipur village, told ANI that because of abject poverty he was forced to sell his daughter for a paltry sum of Rs 200.
The two contrasting sides of India on the first day of 2018 could not be ignored. On the one hand, people splurged to welcome 2018, on the other; a poor woman in Uttar Pradesh was forced to sell her 15-day-old baby so that her ailing husband could be treated.
OneIndia News
