Odisha man sells son for Rs 25000 to buy smartphone, alcohol

A man from Odisha's Bhadrak district allegedly sold his 11-month-old son for Rs 25,000 and the bought alcohol, a silver anklet and a smartphone.

Police have arrested the man on Tuesday. The man has been identified as Balaram Mukhi.

The police said that Balaram bought a mobile phone of Rs 2,000, silver anklet of Rs 1,500 for his seven-year-old daughter and a saree for his wife and spend some amount on alcohol.

Police are also questioning Balaram's wife and his brother in law and an Anganwadi worker are also suspects in the case.

Bhadrak's Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anup Sahoo said that Mukhi has no regular income. "He works as a sweeper and seems to be a habitual drinker,".

The mother of the child, Barsha said "My husband was in a drunken condition, and he told people that this is an illegitimate child, which is why he didn't want to keep him with me and wants to give him to some other person.

"While the mother is saying that she could have raised the son as already she is raising her two children, on the other hand, the father claimed that both had a fight and in between of that he picked up the child and sold him.

The child is sold to Somnath Sethi who is a retired driver. The couple lost their 24-year-old son in 2012. Since Somnath's wife was suffering from depression, they were looking for a son to adopt.

"Sethi's wife had been suffering from depression after their only son died and he had told his acquaintances to look for a child they could adopt so that his wife recovers," said Inspector-in-charge of the Bhadrak Town Police Station, Manoj Rout.