Son “mortgaged’’ to pay for wife’s funeral
INDIA: An Indian man “mortgaged” his baby son to pay for his
wife’s cremation after she died giving birth, reports said.
Bipin Gagarai of the southeast state of Orissa said he “mortgaged”
his son for 1,200 rupees (26.6 dollars) because he did not have enough
money to pay for the funeral.
“As he had no money to transport the body to his village and
undertake funeral expenses, he handed over the baby to a childless
couple who paid him 1,200 rupees,” the Press Trust of India (PTI)
reported.
But district official Shivaji Bhuyan said Gagarai had promised he
would reclaim the infant once he had earned enough money to pay back the
debt.
This “cannot be construed as a case of child sale,” PTI quoted Bhuyan
as saying.
However, the United News of India news agency said Gagarai, who has
two more children, “sold” the newborn after his wife’s death.
Officials said they had taken Gagarai’s three-year-old daughter into
protective custody as a precaution.
New Delhi, Tuesday, AFP. |