Odisha: Father sells baby boy for Rs 1 lakh; child rescued, 2 detained
Balasore (Odisha) (PTI): Odisha Police have rescued a two-and-a-half-year-old boy who was allegedly sold by his father to a man for Rs 1 lakh, officials said.
Both the seller and the buyer have been detained.
The incident, which took place at Barisahi village in Nilgiri Notified Area Council area, came to light after a video purportedly showing the father bargaining with a prospective buyer went viral on social media.
A local activist subsequently lodged a complaint at Nilgiri police station.
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PTI, however, could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
"The baby was rescued from Chiminibhati area and handed over to the child welfare committee. Further investigation is underway," Nilgiri Sub-divisional Police Officer Pramod Kumar Mallick said, adding police have detained two persons in this connection.
Police identified the father as Rakesh Kumar Behera alias Kua, a mason, who allegedly received Rs 50,000 as the first instalment.
Behera claimed financial hardship prompted the move.
"We have four children and are facing difficulty in raising them. A known person arranged the buyer and I handed over the baby," he told reporters.
Police sources said Behera had married twice and the child allegedly sold was born to his second wife, who was living separately from him.
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K'taka bypolls: Voting underway in Bagalkot, Davanagere South assembly segments
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Bengaluru (PTI): Voting was underway for bypolls to two Assembly segments, Bagalkot and Davanagere South in Karnataka on Thursday.
The polls were necessitated by the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti and Shamanur Shivashankarappa. Counting of votes will be taken up on May 4.
Although the outcome of these by-elections is unlikely to have an immediate impact on state politics, the contest is seen as a matter of prestige for both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.
While the Congress faces the challenge of retaining both seats, the BJP is aiming to wrest them and deliver a setback to the ruling party.
Over 2.59 lakh eligible voters are expected to cast their votes in 319 polling stations in Bagalkot, where nine candidates are in the fray.
In Davanagere South, over 2.31 lakh voters are expected to exercise their franchsie across 284 polling stations, with 25 candidates contesting.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of bypolls, officials said.
The BJP has fielded former MLA and 2023 defeated candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath from Bagalkot, and a fresh face, Srinivas T Dasakariyappa, from Davanagere South.
The Congress has given tickets to family members of the late legislators in both constituencies. Umesh Meti is the son of H Y Meti, while Samarth Mallikarjun is the grandson of Shamanur Shivashankarappa.
Samarth's father, S S Mallikarjun, is a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet and in charge of Davanagere district, while his mother, Prabha Mallikarjun, is a Member of Parliament from the region.
The BJP is looking to make gains in the bypolls and energise its cadre ahead of the 2028 Assembly elections. For the Congress, retaining both seats is crucial, as a loss could be seen as a negative verdict on the performance of the Siddaramaiah-led dispensation.
In the 2023 Assembly elections, H Y Meti defeated Charantimath by a margin of 5,878 votes in Bagalkot, while Shivashankarappa defeated BJP's B G Ajay Kumar by 27,888 votes in Davanagere South.
