Incident of child selling is not new to Odisha. There
were incidents in the poverty stricken KBK districts of Odisha where starving
poor parents being unable to feed themselves and the child had sold their
offspring under compulsion to make the child survive somehow. But the recent
case of a Mother selling her child for material needs like Jeans and mobile
phone throws many questions for the social thinkers of India to think upon.The news of a 20 years old mother of Odisha selling her baby boy at 5000 INR and purchasing jeans and mobile phone with the money has shocked India where mother is seen as an icon of sacrifice for her children.
The incident took place in Jajpur district of Odisha
where the mother Rakhi Patra sold her 17 month old baby at 5000 rupees. While
the mother claimed that she sold her child to meet the legal expenses to bail
out her husband who is in jail as under-trial-prisoner on charges of theft, the
police has found after investigation that the claim is not completely true
because Rakhi bought a mobile phone set along with clothes for her and her
husband with the money she got by selling her child.
The police also claim that Rakhi sold the child
intentionally and never, really, wanted that the child be rescued. The reason
behind such a conclusion was the non-cooperation from the side of Rakhi in
rescuing the child. ‘She didn’t cooperate in the rescue operation but, rather,
confused us a lot,’ said the Inspector In-Charge of Jajpur Road Police Station
Aswini Kumar Sahu to media persons after rescuing the baby boy.
‘Even after the boy was rescued, his mother Rakhi didn't
show interest in taking the child back. Now the child is kept at child care
office,’ said Deepak Kumar, Superintendent of Police for Jajpur District while
saying that the claim made by Rakhi in justification of the sell of her child
was not completely true
Incident of child selling is not new to Odisha. There
were incidents in the poverty stricken KBK districts where starving poor
parents being unable to feed themselves and the child had sold their offspring
under compulsion to make the child survive somehow. But here, this is not the
case.
Now the question is how a mother, sacrificing all
emotional bondage, could sell her own child to fulfil such material desires?
Was it the result of growing consumerism in India? Or, it’s a victory of the
love for materialistic luxury over emotional bondage and relationship between
the mother and her child?
This article first appeared on October 5, 2012 at
HotnHitNews.
