Sat 29 July 2023:
Inquirer News reported that in the West Bengal state of India, a family sold their 8-month-old baby to buy a cell phone, so that they could buy an expensive iPhone to make reels. The bizarre development is said to be from the state’s North 24 Parganas district.
A police investigation is going on, and the child’s mother, named Sathi, has already been arrested. However, the father of the baby, named Jaydev, is absconding.
Interestingly, it was the couple’s neighbours who sounded the alarm. Their neighbours in the Panihati Gandhinagar area grew suspicious after they noted the child’s absence and the sudden change in the couple’s behaviour.
The couple was struggling to make ends meet days earlier, and suddenly, they bought an iPhone and even toured different parts of the state to shoot reels.
Upon being asked by their neighbours about the whereabouts of the baby, the couple admitted they sold their son in return for money.
Soon after, the police were informed and the baby was rescued from a lady in the Khardah area. Apparently, the couple had sold their son to this lady for money to buy the mobile phone. The lady, named Priyanka Ghosh, has also been arrested by the police.
Neighbours allege that the couple, who also have a seven-year-old daughter, also indulges in drug abuse.
As per a statement from a local councillor, the couple was about to sell their daughter too.
Local councillor Tarak Guha said, “After selling the boy, Jaydev also tried to sell the girl on Saturday midnight. We informed the police as soon as we came to know about it. Police have arrested Jaydev.”
As per a statement by a police official, it was not clear whether the boy was sold due to poverty or any other reason.
According to a police officer from Barrackpore Commissionerate, the investigation is going on, and the case is being looked at from all angles.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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