Bokaro: A poverty-stricken couple from Gomia’s Sadam panchayat said they have “donated” their twin newborn daughters two days after their birth to two different families. The Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Bokaro, will now look into the matter.
The parents, Mayan Kewat (42), a fish seller, and his wife Shanti Devi (34), who works as a daily wager, said the twins were born at a government hospital here on April 1. After their discharge on April 3, the parents, who are residents of Ketwat Tola village, some 68 km from here, donated one of the twins to a childless couple from Chandipur village of Kasmar block of the district. The other baby was handed over to a man from neighbouring Hosier village, who will give it to his childless relatives (couple) in Patna, Bihar.
The matter came to light on Sunday after the parents' neighbours informed the local administration. After hearing the news, Gomia block development officer Kapil Kumar visited the couple at their home on Monday to confirm the matter.
Talking to TOI, Kumar said, "The couple said they already have four children, two boys and two girls, and are struggling to feed them. They then decided to donate the babies to families who can raise them properly. However, the couple said they were expecting a boy and had planned to raise him."
He further said, "I have referred the case to the Bokaro unit of the CWC to look into the legal aspects of the child donation." Kumar added that members of the CWC will visit the twin's parents on Tuesday.
According to the mother, she and her husband are availing social welfare schemes provided by the state government but are not enough for their family.
Shanti added, "We do not get work regularly. Sometimes, it becomes difficult to arrange two square meals a day for our four children. How can we feed our newborns in this situation? So, we decided to donate them. As a mother, it is painful, but I did it for their future.”
Her husband Mayan said he was planning to raise another boy but was surprised when the twin girls were born. He said, "We live in a single 10x4 room with our four children. How will we arrange money for their marriage when we cannot even arrange two meals a day?” The couple’s eldest child is a teenage boy and their youngest son is five.