By IANS
Jajpur (Orissa) : A couple in Orissa gave away a newborn baby -their fifth child – to one of their relatives as they cannot take care of him due to acute poverty.
Sheikh Karimuddin, 37, and his wife Munifa Bibi, 28, of village Maheswarpur in the coastal district of Jajpur, about 100 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, live in a thatched roof house with mud walls. Both of them are daily wage labourers.
While Munifa rolls bidi- a thin hand rolled cigarette for a local company and earns roughly Rs.400 per month, Karimuddin works as a helper in a private truck and earns less than 1,000 rupees per month.
The couple already has two daughters and two sons. On June 16, Munifa gave birth to a baby. "We have handed over the boy permanently to Alli Khan and his wife Sohan Bibi of neighbouring Rekabi Bazar village," Munifa told IANS.
"We had no other option because we are poor. We are not capable of maintaining the four children that we already have. Alli Khan, who is our relative, told us that he has three daughters and no son. He offered to adopt my child and take care of him. That is why we gave our child to the couple," she said.
The matter came to light after local Congress leader Bijay Kumar Das Monday alleged that the couple sold their son. However, the baby's parents denied they sold the baby.