Unable to repay a loan, a Bihar couple sold their one-and-a-half-year-old son, their eighth child for Rs 9,000. The parents were later arrested along with the child's maternal uncle after the police came to know about the child trafficking, reports said.
The couple, identified as Mohammad Haroon and Rehana Khatoon, were living in the Pachira panchayat of Raniganj block in Araria district. They had reportedly defaulted on a loan of Rs 50,000 and were under pressure from the loan sharks. With little to no hope of finding the money to repay the sum, they reportedly decided to sell their youngest child. The couple alleged that the private finance company employees were intimidating them over the skipped due dates.
According to reports, the baby was handed over to the child welfare committee by the police after rescuing him from the residence of a relative of the couple identified as Mohammad Arif.
Meanwhile, as the probe progressed, it emerged that a Bengaluru-based woman had offered to pay Rs 2 lakh for the child. Since the parents received only 9,000 for handing over the child, the police suspect that Tanveer, the brother of the child's mother, plotted with Mohammad Arif to sell the child for a higher price.
Rehana Khatoon told police that it was Arif who gave her Rs 9,000, The New Indian Express said in a report. However, when interrogated, Arif's kin said that they paid Rs 45,000 to bring the child home. It is yet to be established whether Tanveer received the rest of the sum from Arif or Rehana is lying to the police.
The involvement of the Bengaluru-based woman came to light after another family member of the couple reached the police. The source reportedly disclosed that Arif had struck a deal with a rich childless woman who was trying to adopt a baby. Arif had already received a plump amount from the buyer in advance, the person told the cops.
Further investigation is going on.