Marmari Tripura : “Newborn Sold for Rs 5,500 in Dhalai District | Agartala News”

AGARTALA: The Tripura administration was rocked by a disturbing report of a newborn baby girl allegedly being sold by her 37-year-old widow mother in a hospital bed. The incident took place in Taravan Colony, North Gandacherra ADC Village under Dhalai district on Thursday, highlighting the extreme poverty faced by some families in the region.

The District Magistrate Dhalai, Saju Vaheed A, was reportedly unavailable for comment, but sources in his office confirmed that an investigation has been launched to probe the matter. The administration is still trying to locate the missing baby and determine her current whereabouts.

The ruling BJP party has vehemently denied the allegations, accusing the opposition of spreading misinformation to tarnish the government’s reputation.

Leader of the opposition and CPI-M State Committee Secretary, Jitendra Chaudhury, released a video featuring the mother, identified as Marmari Tripura. In the video, she confessed to selling her one-day-old baby girl for Rs 5500 on May 23 at the Gandacherra sub-divisional hospital due to dire financial circumstances.

Chaudhury revealed that Marmari’s husband, Poornjoy Tripura, had tragically taken his own life earlier in the year after struggling to support the family amidst severe poverty. Following his death, Marmari had to mortgage the family’s ration card to provide for her four children.

With no one left to provide for the family, Marmari resorted to collecting and selling wood from the forest to ensure her children had enough to eat on a daily basis. She was pregnant at the time of her husband’s suicide and had considered aborting the fetus, consulting with Dr Binay Debbarma at the Gandacherra Sub-Divisional Hospital.

According to Chaudhury, Dr Debbarma advised Marmari against terminating the pregnancy and provided her with necessary medical care during the final months of her pregnancy. On May 22, Marmari gave birth to a baby girl at the hospital.

The next morning, the baby was discovered missing from her bed, prompting the hospital authorities to launch an investigation. It was later revealed that Marmari had sold the child for Rs 5,500, but she has yet to disclose the identity of the buyer.

Chaudhury has raised the issue with Chief Secretary J K Sinha and DM Dhalai, urging them to expedite the search for the missing baby and take steps to prevent the family from facing further hardship.