Migrant labourer sells 15-day-old daughter due to poverty, police rescue baby
Kokrajhar (Assam): Driven by extreme poverty and lack of work during the COVID-19 crisis, a migrant labourer in Assam sold his 15-day-old daughter for Rs 45,000 but police rescued the baby, officials said on Friday.
The man and two women have been arrested on the charge of human trafficking.
Dipak Brahma, a resident of Dhantola Mandaria, a forest village in Kokrajhar district, had recently returned from Gujarat, where he worked as a labourer. He was jobless and finding it hard to support his family, according to an official of an NGO working against human trafficking.
After his return, the family started living at the house of his in-laws in Kochugaon Patakata village in the same district. The family still lived a hand-to-mouth existence, neighbours said.
During these tough times, Brahma's wife gave birth to the girl, their second daughter. Their elder daughter is a year old, Nedan Foundation chairman Digambar Narzary said.
"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," he added.
The man sold his daughter to two women for just Rs 45,000 on July 2 but kept his wife in dark, Narzary said.
Brahma's wife and villagers lodged a complaint at Kochugaon police station after they came to know about it later.
"On receiving the complaint, police swung into action and rescued the baby from the two sisters. We also arrested the man (Brahma)," police said.
During interrogation, the two women claimed that they had bought the baby for a childless couple related to them.
"We are really thankful to the police for rescuing the baby. But the issue is of very serious nature. Because of the lockdown, poor people do not have any work. The situation is getting worse for those living in forest villages," Narzary said.
Lakhs of labourers returned to their homes in Assam from large cities outside the state after they became jobless during the lockdown.
Though the state government had announced that it will create job opportunities for them through various initiatives, including under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the COVID-19 outbreak has badly hit most economic activities in the state.
People are facing the double whammy of the pandemic and floods which have created havoc in the state.
A total of 28.32 lakh people in 26 of the state's 33 districts have been affected by the deluge.
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Uttarakhand Assembly passes censure motion against opposition over women's reservation bill
Dehradun (PTI): The Uttarakhand Assembly passed a censure motion against the Congress and other opposition parties on Tuesday for allegedly blocking the passage of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, in Parliament.
The motion, which expressed the House's formal disapproval of the opposition's conduct, triggered a massive uproar by Congress members, leading to the adjournment of the House sine die.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Subodh Uniyal moved the censure motion, citing the "uncooperative attitude" of opposition parties toward the bill seeking 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative bodies.
Addressing a special daylong session convened specifically to discuss "Nari Samman -- Rights in Democracy", Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the bill's passage would have benefitted every political party.
Dhami noted that after delimitation, the number of Assembly seats in the hill state would have gone up to 105, with 35 reserved for women. He added that the number of Lok Sabha seats from Uttarakhand would have risen from five to seven or eight.
"The opposition fears that if women from ordinary households enter politics, the shops of dynastic politics run by certain parties will shut down," the chief minister claimed.
He compared the opposition's conduct in Parliament to the assembly in Mahabharat where Draupadi was insulted. Dhami further likened the opposition's behaviour to the "arrogance of Ravan".
The chief minister highlighted his government's initiatives, asserting that Uttarakhand was the first state to implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to protect women's rights. He said the UCC freed Muslim women from practices like "halala", "iddat", polygamy and child marriage.
Leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya questioned the technical feasibility of the bill, calling the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) claims of providing reservation by 2029 "misleading".
He argued that the bill is linked to census and delimitation processes. The Congress leader said the 2026 census would conclude by 2027 and the final data publication would take two more years.
"The delimitation process will take another six years. The actual implementation of this bill is not possible before 2034," Arya said, describing the move as a strategy to protect the BJP's "political ground".
The session also saw high drama outside the Assembly gates, where Congress MLA Virendra Jati staged a protest, demanding the payment of "outstanding" dues to farmers by sugar mills.
Jati arrived at the Assembly's main gate with a tractor-trolley loaded with sugarcane and dumped it on the road. The move brought the traffic to a halt, prompting traffic and security personnel to intervene and clear the area.
Women Congress workers also staged a demonstration against the "anti-people policies" of the state government.
