- By Yashashvi Tak
- Sun, 07 Sep 2025 04:56 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
A month-old baby boy was sold by his poor parents for Rs 50,000 due to poverty. The action came after Chief Minister Hemant Soren took cognisance of the matter and directed the police to take immediate steps to rescue the boy, who was successfully rescued on Sunday by Jharkhand Police, a senior officer said.
A couple from Lesliganj in Palamu district reportedly sold their infant son for Rs 50,000, citing extreme financial hardship, according to Lesliganj Circle Officer Sunil Kumar Singh.
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Upon learning about the case, the Palamu district administration intervened, providing the family in Lotwa village with 20 kg of food grains and initiating steps to enroll them in various government welfare programs.
Ramchandra Ram, the father, told reporters that he had sold his son to a middleman couple from a nearby village because he could not afford basic necessities or medical treatment for his wife, Pinki Devi, who had been unwell since giving birth. “I did not have money for her treatment or even to arrange food,” said Ram, a daily wage labourer who had been unemployed for several months due to continuous rainfall.
"We are homeless and spend nights along with four other children of ours under a dilapidated shed," Ram said.
After receiving the payment, the middleman couple took the child to Latehar district. Ram, originally from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, has been living in Lotwa for the past 15 years with his wife, who is a local resident. The couple survived through occasional labor work and even begging when work was scarce, according to officials.
They lacked Aadhaar and ration cards, leaving them excluded from government welfare schemes. Pinki Devi added that her father had provided a small plot of land where they built a hut, which was damaged in heavy rains. She had given birth under the shed, and her health has remained poor since.
"We were left with no other option but to live under the shed," Ram said.
A police team was dispatched to Latehar to locate the child, who was rescued on Sunday, said Lesliganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Uttam Kumar Rai.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren had earlier instructed the Palamu Deputy Commissioner to ensure a thorough investigation. Deputy Development Commissioner Javed Hussain stated that the administration, after learning about the incident through media reports, took swift action to reunite the child with his parents.
(With PTI Inputs)
