NEW DELHI: An Indian man “mortgaged” his baby son to pay for his wife's cremation after she died giving birth, reports said on Monday. Bipin Gagarai of the southeast state of Orissa said he “mortgaged” his son for Rs1,200 because he did not have enough money to pay for the funeral.
“As he had no money to transport the body to his village and undertake funeral expenses, he handed over the baby to a childless couple who paid him Rs1,200,” the Press Trust of India reported.
But district official Shivaji Bhuyan said Gagarai had promised he would reclaim the infant once he had earned enough money to pay back the debt.
This “cannot be construed as a case of child sale,” PTI quoted Bhuyan as saying.
However, the United News of India news agency said Gagarai, who has two more children, “sold” the newborn after his wife's death.
Officials said they had taken Gagarai’s three-year-old daughter into protective custody as a precaution.—AFP
