After the sale of new born girl in Bangshibari of  Mungiakami block under Teliamura subdivision by her impoverished parents, which created an uproar in the entire state, the administration rescued the baby from a house in Karbook area of Gomati district on Saturday.

Ushani Debbarma, the wife of Khokan Debbarma, a resident of Bangshibari in Khowai district gave birth to a girl at their home on Wednesday. The baby was sold to the childless couple the next day.

After the news about the child sale spread, the government sent a team accompanied by the police to the couple and the baby was rescued.

When the matter came to light, Tribal Welfare Minister Bikash Debbarma, who represents Krishnapur Assembly constituency, asked the administration to check the incident.

On Friday, a joint team of the Sub-Divisional administration, Social Welfare department and police rushed to Bangshibari and met the parents of the missing child. The parents claimed they have handed over their child to one of their relatives in Jirania. Accordingly, another team went to Jirania to recover the child”, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Teliamura Abhijit Chakraborty said.

Meanwhile, a high-level delegation headed by the District Magistrate also visited remote Banshipara to gather detailed information about the incident.

 “The family seems hardcore Jhumia and is extremely poor. We have given financial assistance to the family”, he added the joint team has not found any money transaction on handing over the child.

The administration is seen to be fidgeting with the rescue operation and a jumbo team formed as per the instructions of the Teliamura sub-divisional administration started a vigorous search for the sold child at various places. After conducting searches in various places including Mungiakami, Khumwlung, the administration managed to rescue the child from Karbook in Gomati district at around 4 am on Saturday. As of last news, the concerned child and her mother are currently under observation at Teliamura Sub-Divisional Hospital. Official sources said that no action has yet been taken against the two couples.

While speaking with media persons Khokan Debbarma on Saturday said  “I can’t feed my family. Our hut is also broken. That’s why I handed over the child for Rs 30,000.”

“The mother, who is suffering from post-delivery complications, was admitted to Teliamura hospital while the baby is in the custody of the government,” Khowai District Magistrate (DM) Chandi Chandran said. Chandran said that she paid a visit to the mother as well as their residence to know the ground reality. The Debbarmas who have a six-year-old girl decided to hand over their baby to the couple of Karbook before the delivery, as the latter had no child.

 “Now it all depends on the baby’s biological parents. If they want to keep the baby they can do so. They can also hand over the child through a state adoption agency,” the district magistrate said.

The family appears to be shifting cultivators and is extremely poor, she said, adding that the district administration has provided financial assistance to them.

The DM reacting to the media claimed that the investigation of the whole incident is going on. Besides, she also said that what will be done with the child in the future will be decided completely within the law and after talking to the parents of the concerned children. District Magistrate along with Teliamura Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Abhijit Chakraborty, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Prasun Kanti Tripura, DCM Saurabh Das were among others during their visit to hospital, where both child and her mother were admitted.