Woman sells newborn to pay for husband’s medical treatment

Bareilly: In a heart-wrenching incident in UP’s Bareilly district, a woman was reportedly forced to sell her newborn son to pay for the treatment of her bed-ridden husband.

Identified as Sanju Devi, a resident of district’s Dhakia Khoh village, sold her son for Rs 42,000, as per a report by Deccan Herald.

Devi had taken a loan to get her husband, a construction labourer, treated. Harswaroop Maurya got injured after a wall had collapsed while he worked at a construction site, around three months ago.

Since Maurya was the sole breadwinner of household, the family was at an edge of starvation. “We had no option…I was bedridden with injuries….there was nothing to eat,” Maurya said. They did not have a ration card, Devi said. Adding that she had to take loans to pay for Maurya’s treatment.

After the matter got highlighted, the district officials said that a probe would be conducted in this matter.

“The family will be provided with every possible help after the report is received…the government will bear the expenses of Maurya’s treatment,” said a senior official in Bareilly on Monday.