Police recover day-old baby sold by mother

A day-old baby, reportedly sold by the mother, was recovered by police from a bus in the capital's Paltan yesterday.

Guljan alias Gola, 50, was carrying the infant in a local bus when another woman became suspicious of Gola's relationship with the baby.

When Gola could not give satisfactory answers to her questions, other passengers began beating her up and got her off the bus in Paltan when police intervened, said Sub-Inspector of Paltan Police Station Monibur Rahman.     

"On primary interrogation, she told us that she got the baby from the mother in Dhalpur slum promising to pay her 20,000 taka," he said.

She claimed she was taking the baby to her childless brother and his wife in Faridpur, he added.

Talking to The Daily Star, Parveen Begum, 23, the mother of the child, said, "I gave my baby away because I cannot afford his upbringing."

A mother of three, Parveen, who works at a plastic factory, said her husband Helal abandoned her about six months ago.  

The child was born on Sunday at a local maternity service providing centre. Gola alleged that the exchange was made with assistance from Fatema, a staff of the centre. The infant will remain at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said the hospital's Assistant Director (Admin) Khaza Abdul Gafur.