Orissa mother sells infant for Rs.500

Bhubaneswar, Dec 25 (IANS) In a shocking incident, a poverty-stricken Orissa woman sold her one-and-a-half-month-old son for Rs.500, a media report Friday said.

The incident took place in Kamakhyanagar town in Dhenkanal district, about 200 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, Tuesday but came to light after the woman narrated her plight to journalists in the region Thursday.

Middle-aged Kamalini Dehury said she used to earn her livelihood by working as a maid in various houses after her husband, Dandadhar Dehury, died April 27.

She said her condition worsened after she gave birth to her second child.

Kamalini, who already had a two-year-old son, had no other option but to sell the younger child as she faced acute poverty and could not maintain both the children, Oriya daily Sambad quoted her as saying.

She said she purchased an aluminium pot for cooking and a woolen cloth for her elder son with the Rs.500 that she received from buyer Salma Khan.

Kamalini does not have a house and has been staying in the veranda of a villager. She is not a  beneficiary of any of the government schemes meant for the poor, the report said.

"We have come across the news. We are investigating into the matter," a senior district administrative official told IANS.