Daily wager woman sells off infant son in bid to free jailed husband

In a desperate bid to arrange money to get her husband released from jail, a woman in Odisha's Jajpur district has allegedly sold off her 17-month-old son for Rs5,000, police said here on Monday.

Rakhi Patra (20) of Mundamal village under Jajpur Road police station went to Cuttack on September 13 and handed the baby boy over to a person belonging to Jagatsinghpur, inspector-in-charge Aswini Kumar Sahu said.

After getting information about the incident, her mother-in-law Kanakalata Patra filed an FIR on September 21 alleging that Rakhi had sold off the child to an unknown person, Sahu added. Rakhi also corroborated the allegation against her stating: "Yes, I have given my son to a person of Jagatsinghur as I needed money to get my husband released from the jail," police quoted Rakhi as confessing before them.

Rakhi's husband Manoj Patra was arrested in a theft case and is an under trial prisoner (UTP) in the jail at Bagadi in Jajpur district since July 2, said Sahu, adding, the couple are daily wage earners.

Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure police had sent her to a short-stay home for women at Jajpur as her in-laws did not allow her to stay in their home and parents were absconding after the incident. Efforts were also on to trace the child.

Jajpur district collector Anil Samal said he was aware of the incident and asked Tehsildar of Vyasnagar, Diptirani Sahu to inquire into the matter and submit a report soon. "Yes, it has come to my notice and it appears to be true", he said.