Guwahati: A destitute labourer in Assam’s Dhemaji district allegedly sold his 25-day-old infant for Rs 30,000, prompting intervention from the child welfare committee (CWC), which subsequently rescued the baby from a doctor’s residence, officials said.
District CWC chairperson Rupali Deka Borgohain said a formal complaint was lodged at Silapathar police station against the infant’s parents, the purchaser, and intermediaries involved in the transaction.
According to the complaint, the girl was born on Oct 4 at Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh, but the parents, Budhiman Borah and Sabita Borah, absconded shortly after her birth. Borgohain said the father is a daily wage labourer, and the family is enduring severe financial hardship.
“Child Helpline, Dhemaji, subsequently conducted an inquiry and traced the parents. They were summoned to appear before the CWC, but they failed to comply,” Borgohain said in her complaint. However, police determined that the parents later retrieved the child from the Assam Medical College and Hospital and sold her to Pegu Sohoria and her husband for Rs 30,000.
The child was ultimately rescued following intelligence regarding her whereabouts at Chandrajit Doley’s residence in Silapathar. Police apprehended the parents and two others - Bubul Borah and Dilip Saikia, who were allegedly directly involved in the infant’s sale. They were remanded to judicial custody by a local court on Wednesday.