A 35-year-old mother struck by poverty had allegedly tried to sell her eight-year-old daughter at the India-Nepal border in Bihar's Araria district. Police authorities eventually rescued the girl.
This is the second time in two months when the accused, identified as Shannu Khatun, tried to sell her child to fight poverty.
The girl was rescued at the India-Nepal border on Wednesday, Hindustan Times reported. She told police that several days ago her mother had talked to a person from Nepal, who eventually took her away.
"The man told me to address him as papa and gave me biscuits and other eatables. I had been without food for two days," she told the police.
When Khatun was asked whether she had sold her daughter, she replied saying, "I cannot provide food to my children and I see no hope."
"The assurances of financial assistance by the administration turned out to be empty-headed and she, along with two children, was left to fend for herself," Khatun added.
Earlier in July, the mother sold her four-month-old son at a Railway station in Bihar for ₹62. During that time, it was eight-year-old Shabina who informed about her mother to the police.
When asked about the incident, Khatun said that she sold her infant in order to support her disabled husband and other children.
Araria superintendent of police Shivdeep Wamanrao Lande confirmed the incident, according to the daily. "The 'papa', Ram Chandra Rishideo, has been arrested for immoral human trafficking," Hindustan Times quoted Lande as saying.
Meanwhile, the girl has been handed over to the district child welfare committee for her safety.
