Nagamani of Kyatagaanakere tanda in Pavagada taluk gave birth to a baby girl in May last year. When an anganwadi worker went to visit her the following month, the baby was found missing. When the anganwadi worker asked Ms. Nagamani about the whereabouts of the baby girl, she reportedly confessed to having sold her for Rs. 1,000 to another person in the same taluk.
Subsequently, the baby was rescued by the Child Development Project Officer and staff, and a case was registered against Nalina, who bought the baby, at the Pavagada town police station. This is not an isolated incident and throws light on a practice that is rampant in Pavagada taluk.
According to Sogadu Venkatesh, the former member of Pavagada Town Municipal Council, though baby girls were being sold in tandas such as Hosahalli, Nagenahalli, Kyatagaanakere and Kilaranahalli in Pavagada taluk, very few are reported.
He said most of those parents work as labourers who migrate to cities in Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore in search of job. Pavagada is a drought-hit taluk situated on the border of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. “It is difficult to track them. Also, the babies are adopted by childless couples who help the poor parents in cash or kind. However, these adoptions are not official,” Mr. Venkatesh said.
According to Vasanthi Uppar, District Child Protection Officer, from June 2013 to January 2014 three baby girls were abandoned, one was sold and two newborns were given to two childless couples in Pavagada taluk. In another case, twin baby girls born to Nagamani and Gangadhar Naika of Nagenahalli tanda in Pavagada government hospital on November 27, 2013, were allegedly given to two childless couples the very next day with the help of a Group D employee of the hospital, Babu.
The Child Development Project Officer and staff rescued the twins on December 5, 2013. Mr. Gangadhar Naika and Mr. Babu were arrested by the police and are now on bail. According to the people of Nagenahalli tanda, poverty and social issues are forcing parents to part with their daughters. The desire for a male child drive couples to keep trying for one. Unable to bear the expenses when girls are born, they sell them for a paltry sum.
Ms. Uppar told The Hindu , “Poverty, ignorance and illiteracy are driving parents to sell their baby girls, and they do not know that it is illegal.”
