A poverty-stricken man allegedly sold his 15-day-old baby girl for Rs. 45,000 due to lack of work and hence an income.

The baby was later rescued by the police and the man, identified as Dipak Brahma , was arrested along with two other women for human trafficking. The man is a migrant labourer and had just moved from Gujarat before the nationwide lockdown. He was finding it extremely difficult to get a job amid the coronavirus pandemic and was driven to extreme poverty. His helplessness led him to sell his 15-day-old baby, according to an official from the NGO working against human trafficking. According to a report by a news agency, Nedan Foundation chairman Digambar Narzary said, "During these tough times, Brahma's wife gave birth to the girl, their second daughter. Their elder daughter is a year old. Brahma tried to find a job during the pandemic but it was hard to come by. With almost all doors to earn a living closed, Brahma decided to sell the newborn. The man sold his daughter to two women for just Rs 45,000 on July 2 but kept his wife in dark."

The man's wife and the rest of the villagers reportedly registered a complaint against him when they came to know of the incident. "On receiving the complaint, police swung into action and rescued the baby from the two sisters. We also arrested the man (Brahma)," the police stated.