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The Rediff Special/The horror of rural Orissa

Mother sells baby for Rs 20 in Orissa!

Bibhuti Mishra in Bhubaneshwar

Defeated by acute poverty that stalks rural Orissa, Laxmi Matiari, a starving woman in her early thirties and a mother of four children, 'sold' her month-old baby to an acquaintance for Rs 20.

Laxmi is from Samantrapalli village, four km from the ancient princely town of Deogarh, around 300 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar. Her husband Nirmal is a diabetic. As neither can work they depend on charity.

Their children make do with a handful of rice once in two days.

On July 25 this year, when she visited her maternal home in Barhakuddar village, near Pallahara, about 60 km away, she sold her last born to an acquaintance, Kalia Mahakul.

"What could I do? There was no money, food or milk to give my baby? I have been so sick that for one month I kept the child alive on sugared water. His condition became worse. So while I in Barhakuddar, I handed over the child to this man who had no children. I may have lost my child but at least he will live. And that is some consolation!" said a sobbing Laxmi

Laxmi's is one of 115 below the poverty line families in the village of about 150 households. "We were given a card two years back, but we do not have the Rs 100 needed to purchase 16 kg of rice we are entitled to!" she says, watching her children eating rice after two days.

Nirmal lies inside the one-room hovel, reluctant to speak. "I am unwell. Do not talk to me. I have been suffering for four years. There is no work, nothing to eat. So what is the crime if we gave the child to somebody who can bring him up? We did not sell him. We were given Rs 20 for the bus fare."

He had recently petitioned the district collector for help but nothing happened. "I have seen what the government does. There is nobody for us."

Shankara Behera (60), ward member of the village, corroborated Nirmal's anguish, but like many others in the village is upset as the child has been sold. "They had nothing to eat. The child would have died. Whatever land they had was sold off long back for their treatment and food. Neither the collector nor politicians have helped."

"I carried him in my womb for nine months. Would I have given him away to anyone had I not been forced to by poverty and privation?" asks Laxmi. She hoped to see him once in a while and that he will visit them when he grows up.

The district administration was defensive on the case. District Collector Manoranjan Mishra said, "There has been no child sale. It is all sensationalism."

The story was broken by Doordarshan's Aaj Tak team. Laxmi sobbed before the camera and admitted that she sold her baby. However, the story took a new twist when a local Oriya newsmagazine covered it. Laxmi had denied that there had been any sale. In fact, the local camera crew went to Rangellunda village, where the child was allegedly sold. The villagers there refuted the charge and said that the child had died.

Said Biren Das, the Aaj Tak correspondent, "She had given the name of the village as Barhakuddar. This village is different. I do not know what is up."

The local newsmagazine pointed a finger at some journalists for sensationalising the story. However, critics said the story got a new twist because the district administration does not want to be seen in poor light.

The Rediff Specials

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