A couple who had three daughters but were desperate for a son, an influx of money after the family’s land was acquired by the government, and a mother who confided in an ASHA worker about wanting to abort her child – police in Jharkhand have stumbled on a curious case after a newborn went missing from a government hospital on March 18.
On March 23, police arrested 11 persons, including five women, from three districts for the alleged sale of a newborn in the state’s Chatra district.
The arrested accused include the Barkagaon-based couple who ‘bought’ the child. The man, Upendra Kumar, who police said is in his 30s, allegedly borrowed Rs 4.5 lakh from his mother.
“The couple wanted a boy. Kumar’s mother had received a compensation amount of Rs 6 lakh for a parcel of land acquired by the government for highway construction in Ramgarh’s Gola area. He pleaded with her to part with Rs 5 lakh, and paid Rs 4.5 lakh to the ‘brokers’. The woman who gave birth received Rs 1 lakh only,” Deputy Commissioner Chatra Abu Imran told The Indian Express.
Imran said police first received a tip-off about a child going missing from Sadar Hospital in Chatra on March 18. He went to check and found certain discrepancies in the mother’s version. “It appeared that people around her had tutored her about what to say. She was saying she gave her child away willingly, and no one was involved. We set up a team immediately.” The woman and her husband, both daily wage labourers, have also been arrested.
Investigators eventually found that the woman did not wish to have the child, and had spoken to an ASHA worker, also called Sahiya in the state, about wanting to have an abortion.
“The Sahiya convinced her not to abort the child, and assured her that he would be given to someone,” said Superintendent of Police Chatra Rakesh Ranjan.
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Rs 3.5 lakh was distributed between the ‘middlemen’, police say, though investigators are trying to ascertain if they are part of a larger nexus since people from at least three districts are involved.
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The accused coordinated in a way that the Barkagaon couple would get the child soon after he was born – he was recovered from their residence and has since been put under the care of the state.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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