Many of us are struggling with the economic downturn because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the story of domestic helper and her daily wage husband will break your heart. They struggled to feed their baby girl, and had to sell her off for Rs. 3000.
Parents from Bengal – Tapasi, a domestic help, and her husband Bapan, a daily wage earner, were badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The couple were finding it difficult to make ends meet as they are both out of jobs.
Many scared of fearing the spread of COVID-19, have stopped using Tapasi services, leading to her being jobless for the past 3 months. While her daily wage earner husband living in West Midnapore is going through the same.
As the couple was helpless to procure food for the baby, they allegedly sold off their two-and-a-half-month old daughter for Rs. 3,000.
It was on Thursday, the police and authorities of NGO Childline recovered the baby girl from a house in Howrah, Bengal. The baby was admitted to a state-run hospital. While her parents are still at large.
As per the sources, Agnishwar Chowdhury, sub-divisional police officer of Ghatal recovered baby from a couple’s house who were distant relatives of the real parents.
A police officer shared that:
“The couple’s neighbours told us Tapasi used to work as domestic help. Most families are not allowing their domestic helps at their houses. Tapasi lost her job. Bapan, too, was a daily wage earner and he, too, had no work. We learnt the couple was struggling to procure food for the child.”
After investigation, the police came to know that Bapan has a distant relative in Howrah district. The officer shared:
“The first tip-off we received was from Bapan’s neighbours who could not find the child anywhere. They did not hear her crying. When we started probing, we came to know about Bapan’s distance relatives, who are a childless couple.”
The district child protection officer, Sandip Kumar Bose mentioned that the baby girl would be in the hospital for 3-4 days, post which she will be sent to a state-run home.
Though the neighbors confirmed that the couple was struggling to feed their daughter, the local MLA shares that he is not ready to accept the couple sold off their infant because of a shortage of funds.
Sharing his opinion, Shankar Dalui, MLA mentioned:
“The state government has floated several schemes for the poor. Rice is being given free of cost. There are other schemes as well. Even after this if the couple sold their daughter it is unthinkable.”
It is a known fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has put many people out of jobs. It is heartbreaking to see how the marginal segment of our society is struggling to meet their ends meet.
P.S.
As many companies restoring to layoffs and salary cuts, we know many of us are struggling with COVID-19. In the midst of your struggle, it is unfair if we expect you to come forward to help the vulnerable segment of our society – your maid, cook, drivers, etc.
But while struggling with your own battle, if you are even thinking of helping that vulnerable segment, we at IFORHER want to let you know that we are proud of you!