Shortly after Padma delivered a girl on August 28 at Narsapur Government Hospital, her husband Shankar fixed a deal to sell the newborn for a sum of ₹40,000. The couple, who reside in Tukaram tanda of Narsapur mandal, already have two daughters and a son. They were reportedly habitual drinkers and used to quarrel often. Even three days before her delivery, Padma and Shankar had a heated exchange, forcing the police to intervene. Their differences notwithstanding, the couple were united in one decision — that a third girl child would be a ‘burden’ for them.
As per the deal, which was facilitated by a woman running a hostel nearby, the baby was handed over to some persons hailing from Visakhapatnam, at Medalamma temple, about 10 km from the Narsapur revenue divisional headquarters. That very day, the girl was taken to Visakhapatnam.
The incident was reported by the local media and officials started investigation. They lodged a complaint with the police based on the information received. Police, for their part, registered cases against those involved in the sale of the newborn, including her parents.
The infant was rescued and shifted to Sishugruha at Sangareddy by the officials of Integrated Child Development Scheme on Sunday. Sources said after the incident came to light, Padma and Shankar, along with their two daughters and son, had locked their home and fled the village.
“Sale of infant girls is high at Narsapur, Kowdipally where tandas are high in number. Here, child marriages are rampant though we are trying to stop such incidents. This is the first incident that has come to our notice, of a baby girl being sold since the COVID-19 pandemic. A similar incident took place where a baby girl was given to a couple at Papyatanda, again near Narsapur. There was no information about exchange of money in that case. We restored the baby to the biological mother three months ago,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.
In another incident at Chinna Chintakunta, a five-year-old boy was handed over to another family. “With great difficulty, we traced the boy and shifted him to Sishugruha at Sangareddy as his mother expressed her inability to take care of him,” the official added.
